How Badly Do You Want It?
by StarvingWriterMaeve
Summary: How far are you willing to go to win a full-ride scholarship to college? Would you jump off a cliff? Swim with sharks? Eat spiders? Live with nine strangers? Well, Arnold, Helga and 8 other teens are put to the ultimate test on this MTV reality game show.
1. 2x01 Pilot: Meet the Cast

**How Badly Do You Want It?: Students Edition**

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><p><em>Pilot - Meet The Challengers<em>

_Filmed: Sunday, June 5, 2011  
><em>

_Television Air Date: Thursday, October 20, 2011  
><em>

* * *

><p>Gerald Johannsen reclined in his twin sized bed, pulling his blankets up to his waist before searching for the remote. It was almost ten p.m. and time for his soon-to-be new favorite show.<p>

Once he found MTV, Gerald turned the volume up to thirty and patiently waited for the annoying commercials to end.

"Turn that down!" his college roommate hissed from his bed.

"Shut up!" Gerald replied, biting his tongue to keep himself from getting any angrier. He turned the volume up a little more which caused his roommate to storm out the door.

"Tonight on the season premiere of _How Badly Do You Want It?: Students Edition_," Kip Daniels, a twenty-five year old, six-foot-tall Hispanic action and adventure enthusiast, grinned as he crossed a mysterious beach, "we welcome the ten contenders to their new home in Cancún, Mexico as they compete for their full ride college scholarship to the college of their choice."

Kip continued moving along a paved road, "Over these next ten weeks these ten hopefuls will face obstacles, as well as death, in multiple physical challenges that not only test their strength, but their personal fears and ability to work as a team to solve problems. At the end of each week, two players from the losing team will be put into a sudden death challenge that's randomly picked by the winning team. Let's meet everyone now."

The shot cut to Cancún's International terminal where two girls, both holding pieces of paper, looked around, clearly confused.

The short girl on the left smiled, "Are you with _How Badly_?"

The brunette giggled in relief, "Yes! Hi, I'm Megan!" She pulled the other girl in for a hug.

"I'm Jenna."

Megan was slim, wearing short jean shorts and high heels to show off the shape of her tanned legs. She was almost six feet in heels and Jenna had to look up almost a foot to make eye contact. Jenna had a blonde pixie cut and fair skin with dark blue eyes hidden behind glasses.

The two girls resumed their walk towards the van, where the driver piled their bags in the trunk. Megan turned to Jenna, "Where are you from?"

"New York. I really want to get this money to go to UCLA."

Megan smiled, "Oh, wow, me too! Except, I'm from Florida." The two girls shared a laugh before falling silent.

The scene quickly cut to when the van's sliding door opened. Two more strangers piled in, this time a boy and a girl.

The boy was fairly attractive, with a faux mohawk gelled into his raven hair and large caramel colored eyes, "I'm Drake."

The African American girl waved, "Sarah."

Everyone exchanged small talk, announcing where they were from and what school they were competing for. Drake was from Boston and needed money to go to Boston College while Sarah was from Colorado and wanted to go to NYU.

Next into the van were twin brothers from Texas, Mark and Jeffery. Both had thick lips, deep tans, curly blond hair and green eyes. The only difference between them was the fact that Mark was wearing a cowboy hat.

"How are we supposed to tell you two apart?" Drew asked.

"I'll always wear the hat," Mark promised, causing the entire car to burst into laughter.

The door rolled open again to reveal a red headed girl and a lean Asian man. "I'm Andrew," he smiled, "and this is Kathy." Everyone waved and made room for the new people to fit in.

"Well, we're just waiting on two more," the driver announced.

Just then a painfully loud scream made the entire van jump.

Sarah was clinging hard onto Drake's arm, nails digging into flesh. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?"

The front door to the van opened and everyone screamed in terror.

Arnold flinched, "I'm sorry guys." He ran his fingers over his blond hair, "Our new cast mate is a little upset."

"That noise came from a human being?" Mark gasped.

Gerald burst into laughter at everyone's on screen reactions.

Arnold nodded, "Unfortunately, yes. We just found out that the airline lost her baggage and refuses to help her get it back."

Jeffery turned his eyes to the sky, "Jesus Christ, save me if I ever have to fight her."

"Her name's Helga. I've known her since forever and. . .well, she hates me."

"That's putting it lightly," Gerald said to the monitor.

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Great, now we have personal vendetta's on the show."

Arnold smirked and buckled up, "We should leave now unless you all want to be beaten by Betsey and the Five Avengers."

Mark groaned, "Please tell me those aren't her fists."

"Wish I could. By the way, I'm Arnold."

The van all chorused, "Hey Arnold."

Arnold turned to the driver, "Kip said he'd stay with Helga. We're good to go."

The scene then cut to the van rolling up to a large modern-styled mansion with a pool overhanging on the third level like the hotel in Vegas. MTV did a montage of the empty house to show the viewer's every aspect and potential camera angle.

The van door opened, showing everyone freaking out about their new house.

The show went to a three minute commercial break before starting again with the players all running into their respective rooms.

The girls room was all pink with two twin sized beds on one wall and three on the other. Megan and Jenna claimed the two beds on the far side of the wall by the window. Sarah collapsed on the bed against the door while Kathy took the one on the other end, leaving the middle open for Helga. The boy's room had the same set up, only with a gray and blue theme.

The cast met up in the large kitchen that overlooked a cliff that lead to a secluded beach. The dining room was to the left and a living room to the right. The house had a modern Mexican theme, with brightly colored orange and red walls covered with tropical patterns and photographs of ocean front views and Mexican flags.

Jeffery popped his head into the doorway, "Guys, check this out."

Everyone jumped off the counters and followed Jeffery into the living room. A large bike wheel was set up on a stand with alternating black and white spokes. "What the hell is this?"

The camera cut to a blonde girl tapping her foot impatiently against the ground, her face scowling and eyes covered by sunglasses. "God, I am such a f- - - - - -g idiot."

Kip turned to her, "You can't curse on camera, Helga."

"I can do whatever the hell I want to, _Kip_. And I want to say _f- - - _because it expresses how I feel right now. I probably look insane to everyone-" Helga threw her arms towards the camera to justify her point. She knew her new cast mates had heard her scream. And _Arnold, _oh, God, he probably thought she was crazier than her usual angry self.

"You are insane, Helga. That's why you're here."

Helga crossed her arms over her chest and grumbled something about "stupid f- - - - -g airports."

The scene then cut to Helga in the confessional booth. It was a small room with two orange chairs and a ridiculous surfer mural hanging on the wall. A studio light hung above the chairs and a motion- sensitive camera started recording when a sensor was activated.

Helga looked exhausted, with her wet blonde hair tied up into a pony tail and an old t-shirt around her shoulders, "I know I totally overreacted," she laughed, "but I was having the worst day of my life." Helga held up her fingers to count all the ways her day went wrong, "I missed my four a.m. alarm and taxi to the airport, found out our flight was delayed, had to spend three hours in the airport with Mr. Positive Arnold - who drove me absolutely crazy the entire time - and I hadn't eaten anything since the previous day's lunch. I just really wanted to get here, get some food and enjoy our days in Mexico before we had to compete."

Helga and Kip both entered the house, Helga's eyes going wide as she took in the size of the mansion. Kip guided Helga to the living room, setting her down on the couch and telling her to wait. Kip pulled out a small megaphone, "Guys! Roundup!"

Nine teenagers came sprinting into the living room.

"Now that we're all here, I'd like to welcome everyone to _How Badly Do You Want It?: Student Edition." _The group shared a round of applause. "For the next ten weeks you will be competing as two teams in various challenges order to win points. These points keep you safe from elimination. Now, I'll go over rules tomorrow, so let's pick the teams."

One by one Kip called up everyone to spin the bike wheel. If they landed on a white spoke, they were on the white team, with the same process for black spokes.

Once everyone had been sorted, Kip handed out v-neck t-shirts in the appropriate colors.

"The White Team is now Andrew, Drake, Sarah, Helga and Jenna. The Black Team is Arnold, Jeffery, Mark, Kathy, and Megan. Tomorrow after the first challenge we will pick captains." Kip winked at the camera, "Have a good night guys. We're up at eight a.m. tomorrow."

Cut to a shot of the boys chugging beers and cheering loudly. Everyone was walking around, holding their beers and mingling in their bathing suits. A few of the teens had already paired off, like Mark and Megan, Kathy and Andrew, and Jenna was trying to flirt with Arnold. Arnold tried his hardest not to be rude, so instead of telling her to leave, he simply smiled.

It looked like a normal high school party in someone's house.

Helga and Sarah we sitting in the confessional, giggling and splashing drinks on each other, "The first night is always crazy! We all want to get to know each other and have fun!"

Helga then stood up and pulled on Sarah's arm, "Come on, we're gonna miss the hot tub!"

The camera cut to the black and white Pool Cam, which showed the entire party either naked or in the process of getting naked and into the pool. Arnold, the only sober one, was keeping his eyes focused on the view of the beach.

Arnold's voice over was playing over the squeals of the girls in the pool, "I'm not much of a drinker, whether it's illegal or not. It's just never really appealed to me. I guess I'm the only one who felt that way."

Mark was now sitting in the confessional booth, clearly wasted out of his mind. His words were slurred and hard to understand so the station put captions on the bottom of the screen. "That kid, Arnold? He's just way too nice for his own good. How does he expect to win if he can't even be mean to someone?"

Gerald laughed out loud at the television screen. Mark was right. Arnold could barely be mean to Helga, and she tortured him mercilessly. Gerald knew better than anyone that Arnold was a big softie.

The show returned, the camera panning across the drunken chaos of soaking wet naked girls and boys running around their new house. Gerald shook his head back and forth, "What did you get yourself into, Arnold?"

The camera showed all of the drunks sleeping at 3:04 a.m. Mark, still wearing his hat, had made out with Megan before passing out on her bed. Kathy and Andrew were still awake and hooking up. Helga and Arnold had fallen asleep in their own beds. A bedroom camera caught a shot of Jeffery sneaking out of Sarah's bed at 4 a.m. Drake and Jenna were sleeping outside on the pool deck.

The screen panned around the damage done to the house. A lawn chair was now resting in the pool, clothes were scattered everywhere and a living room couch was flipped upside down.

An alarm blaring in the girl's room at 6:30 stirred everyone. Embarrassed and hungover the guys quickly fled the room. No one bothered talking until they were showered and ready for the day's competition.

Helga stood in front of the hallway mirror making modifications to her white t-shirt. She cut off most of the shirt and used the spare fabric as a sweatband. Her chest length blonde hair was pulled back into a high ponytail.

"Morning," Drake mumbled as he closed the sliding glass door.

Helga smirked, "Dude, you're going to be late. We have to leave in twenty minutes."

Drake nodded, clearly not paying attention to anything Helga was saying. Helga stormed off from the mirror and into the girl's bathroom, pulling on Sarah's shoulder forcefully. Sarah jerked around from her make-up mirror, "_What_?"

Helga was in a confessional, "I was pissed. I did not want to miss our first day because Drake was too hungover. I was hungover too, but we had our first challenge! I was _not _going to lose because of him!"

Sarah had removed Helga's hands from her arm and returned back to the mirror. Helga continued persisting, "I am not losing because Drake's an a- - - - - -e. How do we wake him up?"

A loud fog horn echoed through the house, followed by a loud cry of pain. "Jesus! Alright, I'm up! For f- - -k's sake! God, Andrew never do that again!"

* * *

><p><em>Monday, June 6th, 2011<em>

* * *

><p>The scene then cut to the two teams standing on the beach, a large platform visible in the distance.<p>

Kip stood in front of the two teams, smiling, "Every week the challenges will center around a theme, like heights, or water, or eating disgusting things." A few girls groaned at that. "But this week your theme will be. . ."

Gerald screamed in frustration when the television cut to the show's new title sequence.

"_How Badly: Student Edition" _animated graphics exploded on screen.

A special remix of Eminem's 'Till I Collapse' filled the background of clips that showed the physical challenges the students had to endure. The teens had to climb up mountains, crawl under barbed wire, eat disgusting bugs, jump off cliffs and swim long distances.

Suddenly, the tv screen flashed to a desert scene with two co-ed teams dressed in white and black.

A dozen more one-second long clips revealed the team's challenges and the player's lives in the house. Physical fighting and screaming matches were seen, as well as girl slap fights and drunken escapades.

Intermittently dispersed between all of that were clips of each player, with their name and the school they were fighting for flashing across the bottom of the screen. They each had a short voice over, saying something about themselves.

Kathy: "Kids don't call me 'Killer Kathy' for no reason. Nothing scares me."  
>Sarah: "People think I'm sweet until they get to know me."<br>Megan: "I can't help it if boys love me too much."  
>Helga: "I'm not here to socialize. I'm here to win."<br>Jenna: "I sure do love drama."  
>Arnold: "I just want to make it out of this alive."<br>Jeffery: "I once wrestled a bull. This game should be easy."  
>Drake: "Shits about to get real serious."<br>Mark: "My cowboy hat gives me superpowers."  
>Andrew: "I'm only cocky because I'm right."<p>

"I'm Kip Daniels, and this is _How Badly Do You Want It? _where we push teens to the limit just so they can earn money for their college education. I'll see you next week when we start the first series of challenges."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** We all know tv shows have hours and hours of footage that never gets shown, right? Well, this is the only episode that won't show all the extra stuff that got chopped on the cutting room floor. The rest of the story will give you so much behind the scene access, it'll be like you're living in the house with the kids. The next chapter takes you on an unfilmed adventure from Hillwood International Airport to Cancún with our two favorite kids. Stay tuned.


	2. 2x01 Pilot: Editor's Edition

**How Badly Do You Want It?: Students Edition**

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><p><em>Pilot - Meet The Cast:<em> Editor's Edition

_Sunday, June 5th, 2011_

* * *

><p>"I cannot believe you're doing this, Helga."<p>

Helga grinned and slung her backpack over her shoulder, "Ten weeks with a bunch of wimps and football face? It's no sweat. I have this game in the bag."

Gerald glared at Helga before turning to his best friend. "I feel bad for your competition, Arnold. They have yet to meet the beast that is Helga Pataki." Helga stuck her tongue out at Gerald.

Arnold interrupted by physically stepping between the two, "We better get going, Helga, our flight is taking off soon."

Helga hugged Phoebe goodbye, promising to call her once they landed in Mexico.

"Be careful, okay?" Phoebe lowered her voice, "These shows always bring out the worst in people. I don't want you doing something you'll regret."

Helga casually glanced at Arnold out of the corner of her eye, "I have it all under control, Pheebs. I've been hiding my feelings for fifteen years, ten more weeks won't kill me."

"But Helga, you know they have confessional rooms. The producers are going to ask you a lot of questions. I'm sorry, but sometimes when you start talking you don't know when to quit."

Helga's eyes went wide with a realization that Phoebe was right. She could _not not not_ get into a confessional booth. "Shit, Phoebe!"

"What, you're chickening out?" Gerald teased.

"No, Phoebe was just telling me about her other boyfriend and how great he is in bed."

"Helga!"

"Alright _now _we're leaving," Arnold pulled onto Helga's arm forcefully to prevent any bloodshed.

Helga tried really hard not to read into the fact that Arnold didn't let go of her arm until they got to the security line.

Helga was wearing her iPod headphones, not actually listening to anything but her own thoughts race. She was feeling nervous about the competition, especially since MTV was known for going overboard with the dramatics. For all she knew Helga was walking into a house full of guys and they were all incredibly athletic and she'd get knocked out first round.

Instead of asking Big Bob to pay for tuition to the University of Iowa - Helga was planning on going for creative writing - she figured that participating in this would be more fun. At least now if someone said something she didn't like she'd have the chance to beat them in a competition.

Arnold rocked back and forth on his heels, hands shoved into his pockets. He couldn't believe he was really going through with this. Out of all people _he _was going to be competing on a dangerous television show.

He didn't know why he was chosen. His audition tape was pretty terrible and he definitely wasn't as athletic as some of the other seniors at his school. He was tall and thin with very little muscle definition. He played baseball and basketball with the YMAA gym, but they didn't do intense weight lifting like the high school did. Gerald's theory was that the show chose Arnold because Helga was too evil to be trusted alone with strangers. After everything Arnold had seen today, that theory did seem slightly plausible.

Arnold really needed the money, though. He was so desperate for it he was willing to sacrifice his body, mind and potentially his life.

He had been accepted to Stanford to study psychology, but had absolutely no way to pay for the school. He was currently registered to start at Hillwood University in September, but deep down he knew he'd be unhappy there. Grandpa felt extremely guilty about not being able to pay for his school and had Arnold search for ways to earn money. The audition for MTV's new extreme reality show was the first thing that popped up on Google.

"_Flight 179 to Cancún will now be boarding passengers traveling with children under the age of five_."

Helga removed her headphones, turning to Arnold, "What?"

Arnold snapped out of his zone, "It was nothing. We still have a good ten minutes before we're called."

Helga rolled her eyes, "Great."

Fifteen minutes later Helga, Arnold and the rest of the passengers were finally delivered the bad news: the flight was delayed.

This was why Helga hated airports. She drove everywhere she could just to avoid it. Not only did security drive her insane, but shit like this always happened. It was as if she was as cursed as Eugene.

Helga was very irritated. This was her summer vacation and she had to wake up early for this. Stomping up to the ticket counter, she smacked her hand onto the tabletop. "It's a seven a.m. flight to Mexico! How the _hell _is it delayed?" Helga shrieked.

The stewardess' strained smile disappeared from her face, "I'm sorry, Miss, I do not appreciate you yelling at me."

"And I don't appreciate -"

Arnold stepped up to the counter, once again pulling Helga out of the way. "I apologize on my friend's behalf." Helga snorted before stepping back. "We'd just like to know why we are delayed. We have to be in Mexico by this afternoon in order to meet with the producers for a new television show."

"Right. Well, Sir, we have just received word that our pilot got caught on a delayed red eye flight from Tokyo. He should be landing within the hour."

Arnold smiled at the woman again, "Thank you."

Helga crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at Arnold. "Well?"

"It's going to be a while. Our pilot's stuck on another flight."

Helga groaned and collapsed into an empty pleather seat. "What are we supposed to do now?"

"I saw a burger place at the beginning of this terminal. Do you want to go eat with me?"

As a reflex, Helga's heart started beating faster.

It had crossed her mind a few dozen times since she found out that Arnold was another competitor on the show that they'd _have_ to spend time together. Ten weeks together, if they both played their cards right.

But right now it was completely voluntary.

_Calm yourself, ol' girl, _Helga thought, _you're jumping way too far ahead._

It was hard for her not to, though, considering the next few hours were going to be the longest time they'd spent together since middle school. Even though their best friends, Phoebe and Gerald, were in a serious relationship, Arnold and Helga hardly saw each other. If Arnold wasn't hanging out with Gerald, he was out with Lila and her cheerleader friends.

Little Miss Perfect Lila Sawyer with her red hair and doe eyes and cute freckles. _Gag! _She hadn't changed a bit since fourth grade.

Arnold and Lila constantly denied that any relationship had formed, always claiming they were just friends, but it was clear to everyone that they were secretly hooking up.

Helga and Arnold sat down in a booth at the back of the airport restaurant, sliding their suitcases under the table. Helga made sure her knees were subtly touching his.

After a waitress took their drink orders, Arnold decided to initiate conversation. "So, what do you expect the competition to be like?"

"I don't know. I hope it's not battle of the sexes, the guys always win because they're stronger."

"Are you already doubting your teammates?" Arnold teased.

Helga shrugged, "Let's be real Football Head, there are no girls tougher than Helga G. Pataki."

"That may be true, but there has to be a reason the other four girls got picked."

"Because they're going to create drama and hook up with everyone." Helga smirked, "Sluts love nice guys like you."

Arnold chuckled, "Alright, I'll be sure to be on my guard."

The waitress returned with drink refills and took Arnold's food order. Helga didn't order anything besides a water since she had no money. Big Bob only gave her money to go grocery shopping, and since she didn't have a summer job, money was tight. And Helga was definitely not going to ask Arnold to buy her food, or let him insist on it either.

The static intercom in the airport announced several gate changes. All of these distractions gave Helga the perfect amount of time to think of a new topic of conversation so there would be no awkward silences.

Helga toyed with her straw, running it around the rim of her glass. "What school are you fighting for again?"

"I want to go to Stanford to study psychology. And if I remember correctly, you want Iowa for writing, right?"

Helga's passive expression changed to one of curiosity. She tried to remain calm and stifle the beating butterflies in her stomach. "Yeah. Why would you ever remember that?"

"I did weeks worth of research to see how hard you'd work in the game."

Helga gasped, "_What_?"

Arnold laughed, "Relax, Helga. I just asked Phoebe this morning while you and Gerald fought about where to park."

Helga laughed nervously. Since when did Arnold feel confident enough to tease her back?

Glancing at his watch, Arnold realized it was time to go. "The stewardess said by the end of the hour. Come on," he dropped a pile of bills on the table and began his walk back towards the gate.

The intercom hissed to life again, "_Attention passengers Flight 179 to Cancún is now delayed. There is also a gate change to B4."_

Helga growled. "I fucking hate airports!"

Arnold nodded, turning around and heading towards the new gate, "We'll get there on time. Don't worry."

"Can't fucking wait," Helga mumbled under her breath.

Returning to an uncomfortable chair at the new departure gate, Helga finally turned her iPod on. She shut her eyes and tried to relax.

She felt Arnold suddenly shift beside her, his body lifting off the chair and pacing back and forth in front of her. Still keeping her eyes closed, Helga turned down her MP3 player's volume to listen.

"Hello?"

"_I just wanted to say goodbye and wish you luck_," Lila's sweet voice spoke softly over the phone.

Arnold couldn't deny the little jump his heart suffered every time he talked with Lila. It was a good and bad thing. Good because it meant their relationship was still strong and that he still loved her, and bad because, well, they had been practically dating for three years but never made it "official." Lila was not into labels, which basically meant she wanted the option to date other guys. But she never did.

Arnold had tried to convince her that they were in a relationship and that she was his girlfriend, but she didn't seem to agree with it.

Arnold continued to pace around the gate as he spoke, "Thanks, but I'll be home soon. Hopefully ten weeks instead of one."

Helga laughed inside her head. Like Arnold would last more than one week. _More like he wouldn't last a day_, she thought.

"_You'll do fine, Arnold! You're strong and smart. I'm confident you'll win."_

"Let's hope your confidence can replace my doubts."

Helga continued to half-listen to Arnold's phone call and her music. Her ears perked up at the end of the conversation, "Oh, you have to go? Okay. I'll call you from Mexico later. . . I love you."

Helga tried to hide her grunt of disgust. Obviously he was talking to _Li-la_, his secret girlfriend._ Ugh._

Arnold sat down beside Helga again, accidentally knocking over her suitcase. Helga bolted up from her seat, glaring at Arnold. "Watch what you're doing, klutzo!"

Arnold picked up the suitcase and apologized.

There was no point in fighting with Helga because he'd always lose.

Except now in a physical competition, maybe Arnold would finally stand a chance against his former bully.

-HA!-

Three hours of delays and two hours of flying later, Helga and Arnold finally met with the dusky, humid air of Cancún.

A large smile was visible on Arnold's face. He couldn't believe he was actually going through with this!

Two men with cameras were moving immediately, following Arnold and Helga as they stepped outside. Both felt awkward but refused to actually acknowledge the lens in their faces or say anything. How were they supposed to act? Smile at the camera or ignore them? Why wasn't someone directing them yet?

A large white van was waiting at the baggage claim exit, a short Hispanic driver holding a sign that said MTV HOW BADLY. Arnold felt a huge sense of relief. He had been worried the van had left without them since they were insanely delayed.

Kip Daniels appeared out of nowhere holding two mikes. As he shook the teen's hands he handed over the sound devices. "Hey Arnold, Helga. It's such a pleasure to meet you." His voice had the faint hint of an accent. "I will be going over everything at the house. But I do need your cell phones as soon as possible. Make your calls quickly, okay? Great. Also, get on the bus. You two are the last ones so as soon as you're ready we can go."

An assistant appeared with duck tape and quickly snapped the microphones to the blondes.

Arnold felt incredibly overwhelmed, everything was _go go go. _Could he even stop to go to the bathroom?

Helga was glaring intensely at the ground, refusing to let her excitement bubble over just yet.

Helga's luggage was missing. Since there was a gate change, it was on a plane to New York. The employee at the Delta Help Desk said it would arrive within two days. Arnold had tried his hardest to calm her down, but every gesture or word seemed to push her even more on edge. So now that she finally had a moment of peace, she released a frustrated scream.

Everyone flinched. Arnold thought this would be the perfect moment to duck into the van.

"What the hell?" Kip asked.

"My luggage is missing!" Helga yelled again. The sound tech boy winced, removing his head phones, "I'm going deaf over here!"

"Okay," Kip glanced at his watch, "I'll wait with you. Let's see if we can figure this out." Kip smiled and tapped the side of the van. The bus engine purred to life and began driving off, one camera man sitting in Helga's seat.

"How was your flight?" Kip asked, flashing another grin at Helga. She remained unamused. She really hated flying and the day had been a complete disaster. She was not in the mood to make small talk with a producer.

"Fucking fabulous," she seethed, rolling her eyes before putting on her sunglasses.

-HA-

"So, tell us about your life, aside from Helga," a deep southern accent made Arnold turn around in the front seat.

"I want to go to Stanford for psychology-" there was a chorus of low whistles "-and, uh, I don't know. What else do you want to know?"

"We all shared quick little bios," a short African American girl said. She smiled brightly, bright white teeth beaming from behind thin lips. "We can do it again really quickly."

Everyone groaned.

"We'll have to do it again later for Helga too," a deep voice whined.

"Oh, she won't care," Arnold said. "She won't even want to know your names. She told me on the flight that she didn't want to make friends."

"Perfect. Well, I'm Sarah Washington. From Denver, wanting NYU for art. My parents are divorced and living in two different cities and between their constant divorce battles, they lost a lot of money."

Crushed between Sarah and the camera man, Drake shifted awkwardly. He tried to free his shoulders so he could adjust his faux-hawk. "I'm Drake Harrison from Boston, fighting for BC. My mom is a single mom and I have two younger brothers." He laughed, "Definitely not enough room at my house or enough money to go to BC, even though I have the right grades."

The Southern twin in the cowboy hat smiled widely, revealing a small gap between his two front teeth. "Mark Turner. That's my twin brother Jeffery." Jeff waved. "We both want to go to M.I.T. but our parents can barley afford to send one of us."

"Damn," Sarah muttered under her breath.

Squeezed tightly between a suitcase and the window, the red head waved, "Hi, I'm Kathy Collins. I'm from Pennsylvania and I want to go to Franklin and Marshall College."

A lean Asian boy removed his headphones, "Andrew Tomioka. I'm from Hartford, Connecticut and I want to go to Dartmouth."

"Jenna Marson. I'm from Manhattan but I really want to go to UCLA because I love the beach and California is awesome."

"I'm Megan Markey and I'm from Jacksonville, Florida. I also want to go to UCLA." The two girls giggled about it again.

"We're here guys!" the driver announced, his Mexican accent thick. The teens attention immediately shifted, eyes peering out the windows, staring at the bushes hiding the house as the van rolled up the hill.

MTV rented this house from a famous Australian producer who also invested a little money in the show. The house was three stories but spread wide over 20,000 square feet.

Although the house was very large, the bedrooms were kept small so the teens would spend more time hanging out in the larger rooms. They had a theater room, a game room with billiards and ping pong. The kitchen was incredibly large also, perfect for nights when the kids wanted to cook. It was easier to film the show with a lot of space for the camera and sound guys.

Sarah tipped her head back to gape at the enormous house, "Guys, this house is incredible!"

Jenna wheeled her suitcase to the open glass patio door, "I can't believe we're going to live here for ten weeks."

"Not all of us will," Mark reminded her.

The serious reality set in for the group at that moment. Someone would be leaving at the end of this week, and at the end of the next. . .until there were two.

"I so want to lay out!" Megan exclaimed, running into the home in her heels. Arnold and Jeff continued to help the driver unload the luggage, hanging them off to their proper owners.

"Shove it," Drake hissed, nudging Arnold out of the way. He reached up for his bag and smirked as Arnold fumbled on the dirt driveway.

"Clearly you two are best friends," Jeff observed, removing the final bag and steadying Arnold back on his feet.

"I don't know what his problem is." Arnold shrugged, "Whatever. Let's go inside!"

The final two ran into the patio door, gasping at the sheer size of the house. It was the biggest house Arnold had ever seen. It made Rhonda's place look like a shack!

"I can't believe we live here!" Jeff shouted, listening to his drawl echo off the walls.

"This is incredible!"

The clanging of flip flops as they hit the wooden staircase made Arnold spin around. The girls had already changed into their bikinis, cheering and shouting as they hit each step. Andrew, Drake, Jeff, Mark and Arnold all shared a pointed look. _What are we doing here? _the look said, _hot babes in their bikinis! _The boys then took off up the stairs, laughing and shoving each other as they raced to their bedroom to change.

Ten minutes later the pre-competition pool party was in full swing. Someone found the alcohol early and a blender and began mixing different drinks for everyone. The boys were doing tricks in the pool, like flips and crazy jumps in order to impress their future female teammates and competition.

Arnold felt bad that Helga was missing out on all the fun. Even if she would deny it, she liked to have fun. She could show up every single guy's stupid flip easily and make the girls feel insecure. Not that that was a good thing, but Helga had this intense air of confidence around her, and it seemed to be heightened any time she wore a bikini. It was almost like she knew she was, well...good looking, but too uninterested to mention it.

The party continued for almost two hours. The sun was beginning to descend slightly from the late afternoon sky and there was still no sign of Helga.

The assistant producer suddenly appeared, holding a cell phone to his ear. Kip was on the other end, telling him that Helga was still waiting on her luggage.

The nine eighteen year olds were all cheering as they jumped into the pool. A large chlorine wave crashed above the surface which almost hit him.

"Children!" No one stopped screaming. "Wild monkeys!" He finally grew irritated and blew a whistle.

The patio fell silent.

"I am George, the assistant producer of the show." George was just over five feet with a thin frame and deeply tanned skin. He wore glasses and had a few days worth of gray scruff growing on his face. "I have a few ground rules for you. One, if you break anything in the house, please tell us. It will be paid for, we just need to know so the owner doesn't get mad. Two, since you're all legal to drink in Mexico, there is alcohol in the fridge. Be responsible. Three, you will listen to Kip and I while we film the show. When we're not on camera, feel free to do whatever. That's all."

As soon as George left, everyone burst into laughter.

Jenna pulled her sunglasses away from her eyes, "What a control freak."

"He just wants us to be safe," Arnold replied from the lounge chair beside her.

"Oh, so you're one of _those_?" Jenna teased.

Arnold sat up, turning to face his future opponent, "One of what?"

She smirked as Megan handed her a fruity cocktail. Jenna took an overdrawn sip, keeping eye contact with Arnold the whole time she drank. She pulled back and licked her cold lips, "A good boy."

Arnold felt his heart dip in his chest. Was she _coming onto _him already? "Uh, I-I-" _I have a girlfriend._

"I'm here!" Kip announced, pulling open the patio doors. Arnold jumped to his feet, secretly relieved that Helga was back. Maybe she'd be able to keep Jenna away from him.

The cameras began rolling again as Kip stepped off to the side. Helga replaced him in the doorway, now decked out in her new bikini and sunglasses.

Drew let out a low whistle as his eyes followed her walk across the patio. Mark removed his cowboy hat and fanned himself. The girls all rolled their eyes and glared.

Arnold smirked at everyone's reactions.

Only Helga could do that, silence an entire pool party by just showing up. It had happened more than a few times during the years. Helga had grown up well since she removed her monobrow and branched out in her outfit choices. She was still one of the tallest girls in the class, five eight, and still one of the skinniest. She wasn't too thin though, she had formed muscles from practicing different sports. Overall she just looked, well, _good._

"You're Helga?" Andrew asked from the comfort of the shade created by the palm trees.

Helga nodded, "The one and only!" She turned her head to look at the view. The cliff-side view provided an incredible angle on the beach and ocean that were over two miles in the distance. The sand looked like cinnamon sugar being splashed by turquoise liquid. "I am so ready to relax before I kick your ass tomorrow."

Drew quickly crossed the patio, stumbling slightly over the lounge chairs. Helga watched, holding back her laugh only to keep her air of disinterest. Drew winked at her, "You're so_feisty_." He handed her a half-spilled margarita, "Tonight is going to get fun!" Helga sniffed the drink before tossing it into the bushes. Andrew laughed, nodding in agreement with Helga's actions.

The gang swam for a few hours while intermittently drinking and enjoying Arnold's grilling.

As soon as the sun set, Kip called everyone inside to the living room.

The cameras began rolling as the kids filed inside, everyone wrapped in towels and wet t-shirts. Kip grinned at the camera, "Now that we're all here, I'd like to welcome everyone to _How Badly Do You Want It?: Student Edition." _The group shared a round of applause. "For the next ten weeks you will be competing as two teams in various challenges order to win points. These points keep you safe from elimination. Now, I'll go over rules tomorrow, so let's pick the teams."

Kip stepped aside and revealed the bike wheel. "Every person will stand up and spin this bike wheel. If you get a white spoke, you're on the white team. Same goes for the black spokes. We're going in age order, so Andrew, you're first!" Andrew was actually turning nineteen in a week.

The atmosphere in the room immediately switched from relaxed to tense. Arnold's mind became wracked with nerves. What if the teams became uneven? What if it was boys versus girls? What if Helga was on the other team? Oh, _God. _That thought scared him the most.

The bike wheel finally rolled to a stop on white.

Kip offered quiet applause, "Congrats, Andrew. You are our first white team member! Up next are Jeff and Mark, but since Jeff is older-"

Jeff stepped up and spun the wheel. It landed on black.

Mark was hoping to get on the opposite team so then he'd be able to fight his brother and prove that he was better. Mark didn't get as high of grades or do as well in sports as Jeffery did. Unfortunately, he received black also.

Kip waved up the next contestant, "Alright, Drake and Sarah, you guys share the same birthday. Who wants to go first?"

"Ladies first," Drake replied. The camera caught Helga as she rolled her eyes.

Sarah spun a white and earned a high five from Andrew.

Jenna and Megan hugged before each spinning opposite colors. Jenna got white and Megan black.

The only two left were Arnold and Helga. It didn't really matter who got what because they'd end up on opposite teams anyway. Helga was a little disappointed. Part of her had hoped that if Arnold was on her team they'd be forced to spend even more time together.

"Helga, you're up," Kip directed.

"_Please _be on black," Jeff begged.

Arnold took no offense. He completely understood Jeff's reasoning.

Helga spun the wheel. It was a lot less dramatic than how it appeared on television. There was no intense soundtrack or long moments of silence. It was a three second ordeal.

Helga was the final White Team player, making Arnold the last Black Team member.

"The White Team is now Andrew, Drake, Sarah, Helga and Jenna. The Black Team is Arnold, Jeffery, Mark, Kathy, and Megan. Tomorrow after the first challenge we will pick captains." Kip winked at the camera, "Have a good night guys. We're up at eight a.m. tomorrow."

The camera guys took a quick break and Kip left for his hotel.

Drake pointed to the kitchen, "I found some Dos Equis in the fridge downstairs. Anyone up for some pong?"

"I am!" Helga and Sarah shouted simultaneously.

The two girls burst into laughter.

"Let's get drunk!" Jenna cheered as she stood on the kitchen counter. Everyone, except Arnold, cheered and raided the cabinets for different alcohol.

First Night Party Soundtrack by MTV:

_You Make Me Feel..._ by Cobra Starship

_Buy U A Drank _by T-Pain

_Party Rock Anthem _by LMFAO

An hour and a half later Sarah and Helga were playing a second round of beer pong against Drake and Andrew. The boys had a fan club - Kathy, Megan and Jenna were clinging to the boy's forearms every time Helga and Sarah shot.

Helga and Sarah dominated, easily sinking almost every ball.

After the game, Mark was sitting outside, drinking his liquor out of glasses attached to his cowboy hat and playing guitar. Megan found the situation completely hilarious and began devoting her attention to him.

Andrew could not hold his liquor very well. He acted out by flirting uncontrollably with any pair of breasts he could find. Fortunately for him, Kathy was just as smashed as he was. They were last seen making out in a bed somewhere.

It was just past midnight now, and Jenna was trying to flirt with Arnold.

Arnold was currently trapped in the kitchen, just outside the doors to the pantry. Jenna was backing him into a corner.

He felt the intense burn of the camera lens on him. How could Jenna do this while she was being filmed? Didn't she realize everyone would see this soon?

"I have a girlfriend, you know."

Jenna arched her eyebrow, "Oh, really? I don't see her anywhere."

"We've been together for three years."

Helga's ears perked up as she removed the bag of potato chips from the shelf. Her eyes set on the shadows moving around outside the door. It was clear that Jenna was pressing hard against Arnold. "_That slut_," Helga hissed under her breath. "She knows him for what, _five _minutes?"

"Who are you talking to?" Sarah asked as she emerged from the deep part of the pantry where emergency supplies were kept.

Helga covered her heart, biting down hard on her lip to keep from screaming. "Oh, my God, you scared me!" she whisper-hissed.

Sarah smirked as she sipped on her beer, "You were just talking to yourself, weren't you?" Helga didn't formally respond. Sarah continued, "Did you know it's a sign of genius to talk to yourself?"

Helga smiled and slung her arm around Sarah's shoulders, "I knew there was a reason I liked you."

"So, what's the deal?" Sarah glanced around for a camera. She continued speaking when she realized there wasn't one, "Do you like Arnold?"

Helga feigned surprise. "_Football Head_?" She fake gagged, "No way."

"You sure? Because it seems like Jenna's making a serious move on him. And if you - hypothetically speaking, of course - liked him, I could easily just drunkenly stumble out of this closet and shove you into his arms."

"_I have a boyfriend back home, but he doesn't need to know-" _Jenna's voice trailed off as Helga tried to think.

Could she really trust this stranger with the most important and best kept secret she ever had? But this stranger was also willing to _help _her by taking immediate action. And Helga could really use some help if she wanted something, _anything, _to happen with Arnold.

"Let's pretend, for enjoyments sake, that I say yes."

Sarah grinned mischievously. Her plan was already falling into action. "On the count of three," she whispered, "quickly run out after me, okay? You'll definitely end up in his arms. One. . .two. . ."

Sarah pushed open the pantry door, howling and fake laughing. The sudden burst of activity behind him made Arnold step to the side while Jenna screamed and jumped back a few feet.

Helga ran out after Sarah, calling her name. Helga turned slightly to her right as she left the pantry and immediately smacked into Arnold. His hands naturally fell around her bare waist, catching her before she could fall backwards.

With a surprising jolt of adrenaline, Helga shoved Arnold back into the wall forcefully.

Stunned, Arnold simply stared at her. Helga was panting incredibly hard and glaring at him from behind sapphire blue eyes. "Watch your step," she snapped. Arnold simply shifted his hands, gently trailing them down her sides before moving them off completely. Helga held in her swoon and turned away.

A loud crash from behind the two patio doors echoed throughout the house.

"SKINNY DIPPING!" Jeffery screamed, stripping down to his boxers before running through the doorway. He was still wearing his socks as he came running through the door and slipped on the hardwood floors. Jeff came into immediate contact with the couch, but his momentum had got him going so fast that he ended up flipping the couch and breaking the wooden coffee table. Arnold immediately rushed to his friend's aid, but Jeff was unscathed.

Everyone immediately began removing their clothes and running towards the hot tub. Mark did another front flip into the pool, losing his hat on the landing.

Helga quickly downed a shot of Tequila before stripping out of her bikini top. She settled into the hot tub between Sarah and Kathy, finally feeling the effects of the alcohol from earlier hitting her. She felt the jet's bubbles bursting in her stomach.

Jenna suddenly leaned over to her right and began kissing Drake hard on the mouth. Everyone cheered while Arnold simply looked away.

Arnold was used to being the only sober one in the house at parties. Sometimes he'd have Phoebe to talk to, but not anymore. He wondered if they would party every weekend.

"You don't like to drink?" Megan asked Arnold, words slurring.

Arnold dipped his feet into the edge of the hot tub, "No."

"You're crazy!" Drake shouted before returning to make out with Jenna.

It was almost three a.m. when Arnold and Helga finally decided to slip away from the gang. A camera immediately began following them while the group shared whispers. "They're so hooking up!" was followed by incessant giggling.

A camera caught the two blondes awkwardly navigating the narrow hallways from the patio to the living room up to the stairwell. It was clear that Helga being topless made this entire ordeal so much _worse_. Fortunately her hair was long enough to cover everything, but Helga still made an attempt to cover herself with her arms.

She was definitely buzzed enough to not care that she was going to be seen topless on television. It wasn't so much from XX, the beer wasn't that good, but more from the cups of rum and shots of Tequila she did. Of course MTV would edit and block out everything scandalous to avoid being sanctioned by the FCC, but still, topless on television wasn't something Helga wanted to accomplish.

As the two neared the stairs, Arnold slipped a discarded towel around her shoulders. Helga smiled gratefully, vision blurring slightly as she neared the steps. Helga's steps were hesitant and mostly aided by Arnold.

"I don't need help," Helga would say after moving up a step, only to feel her weight being forced into Arnold. She had to keep one hand wrapped around the towel, the other on the stair railing.

He said nothing, as he usually did when he helped drunk friends home. This time it was much easier than walking across Hillwood, it was only up one flight of stairs and past a bathroom. After reaching their destination, Helga happily collapsed onto her bed. She picked up her discarded t-shirt, put it on backwards, and curled under the covers.

She started laughing uncontrollably, which prompted Arnold to stand in the doorway. One of the two camera men had been walking backwards up the stairs the entire time and managed to be sitting on someone else's bed filming. The other was following behind, now standing just behind Arnold in the doorway.

"Something you'd like to share with the class?" Arnold teased.

Helga rocked back and forth, still cackling, "I just can't believe _you _are on a game show! It makes me laugh. You're going to l_ooooo_se!"

Arnold smirked, crossing his arms over his chest, "What makes you think that?"

"I'm gonna win, Football Head! Just you wait 'n' see. Helga Geraldine Pataki will kick their asses!" Arnold couldn't help but laugh at that comment. She'd probably end up kicking his ass the most.

"Goodnight Helga, I'll see you bright and early for our first challenge."

Helga rolled over in bed, whispering as her eyes shut, "Goodnight my angel."

-HA-

Squeezing her eyes tightly against the sun, Helga tried to get comfortable standing on the beach. The early morning sun was blazing hot already and the sand was burning her feet through her flip flops. Who said white was the coolest color?

"Good morning everyone! I'm so happy to see you all, most of you looking well."

Everyone except Arnold, Helga and Sarah groaned. Helga was barley even drunk last night and Sarah was good about drinking lots of water throughout the night. Unfortunately, everyone else was pretty hungover.

Kip laughed at their reactions. "Today we're going to be starting our first challenge. When a team wins a challenge, they receive one point. At the end of each week the team with the lowest score must enter into the elimination challenge. The elimination will happen between the losing team, the winning color completely safe. The losing player will chose an opponent from their team. The chosen player will then spin a wheel to determine the challenge."

The teens stared at Kip, clearly too tired to focus.

"I'll go into that all later." He waved his hand to dismiss his previous statements, "Okay. So. . .every week the challenges will center around a theme, like heights, or water, or eating disgusting things." A few girls groaned at that. "But this week your theme will be. . ."


	3. 2x02: Sharp As A Barb

**How Badly Do You Want It?: Students Edition**

* * *

><p><em>Episode One - Barbed Wire<em>

_Filmed: Monday, June 6th, 2011 - Friday June 11, 2011_

* * *

><p>Kip held up a large index card showing a cartoon picture of knotted wire, "This week's theme is barbed wire."<p>

Helga rolled her eyes at the girls' dramatic gasps. How could they be surprised? This show was about pushing limits and hurting yourself to get money.

"Your challenge today is called Barbed Bait." Kip pointed to the platform behind him, motioning for the crew to raise the plastic covering. Dozens of strands of barbed wire and fencing were stretched out low across the beach. Ten feet from the maze and down a hill were two sets of poles arranged in a circular fashion. A clothes line ran around the poles and formed a barrier where pieces of fabric hung blowing in the breeze.

"The object of this is to crawl through this maze and capture your assigned piece of fabric."

Drake crossed his arms over his chest, "What's the catch?"

Kip smiled, "Calm down Drake, I'm getting to it." Drake rolled his eyes. "You will be blindfolded and cannot touch the fabric with your hands. They are attached to the wire with potato chip bag clips, so they're not too hard to break off. We wouldn't want to be cruel, now would we?" Kip laughed at his own joke.

Kip's assistant held up black face masks, "Okay, let's get everyone suited up."

After an extensive test to ensure that every player was completely blinded, they were given ten seconds to learn the touch of their fabric.

Helga was assigned silk, which she knew was easier to feel out when compared to cotton or hemp. _You have this down, no problem, _she thought to herself. _You can do this._

Kip lined up the teams, alternating boy versus girl as well as he could. Andrew was going up against Arnold, Sarah was going against Megan, Drake against Jeffery, Jenna against Kathy, and Helga was going up against Mark.

"Alright, players ready?"

The atmosphere around the beach suddenly turned from relaxed to tense. Everyone was on edge and ready to get their first challenge over with. Anticipation and anxiousness built in knots in every competitor's stomach, heart rate increasing with every passing second.

Kip held up his stopwatch and blow horn, "On your marks. . . get set. . .go!"

Diving blindly into the sand, Arnold used an old army trick his grandfather had taught him. He pressed his legs and butt down as low as they could go, kept his head and shoulders down low and crawled with his elbows, using his feet to push him along.

Andrew was flailing around in the sand like an uncoordinated maniac, crying out in pain every time he got cut.

Arnold made it easily through the wires with only a few slices on his calves. He stumbled down the hill on the sand as he ran towards the hooks, but managed to save himself.

"Don't use your hands!" Kip reminded Arnold.

Arnold paused for a minute, breathing ragged as he tried to think. He had to stay _calm_. He could hear the cheers from the White Team encouraging Andrew to keep going, that he was "almost there."

Time was running out. If Arnold could get his team an advantage now, it could be their saving grace in the end.

Overwhelmed, Arnold did the only thing he could think of. He ran his cheeks around the perimeter of the circle, stopping every few seconds to feel a fabric. He knew he looked completely ridiculous, but he really didn't care.

Arnold got off easy, he had been assigned fur. It was hung up between a rotting fish and silk.

"We added other things to the clothes line too, to keep everyone confused," Kip explained to the camera in a low whisper. "As well as a fish, there was half of a pig, part of a down comforter, rope and some old shoe laces knotted together." Kip resumed looking at the action, "Arnold just found the fish. . .and his fabric!"

Pulling onto it with his teeth, Arnold removed the strip of fur and ran back up the hill. The Black Team began shouting at him, giving him the right directions to get back under the wires. He carelessly dove back under the tangled mess.

Arnold made it back to his team in record time, using the path he had already created in the sand.

The Black Team erupted into loud cheers as Megan was blind folded by a crew member. "Black Team now has the lead with Arnold returning successfully with his fur. Andrew is still searching for his, using his forearms to feel the textures."

"It's hard," Arnold gasped between panting to a camera, "because you're covered in sand and blinded and bleeding. The sand gets everywhere and it's hard to feel everything through it all."

Andrew finally found his fur, bit it off the wire with his mouth, and scrambled back through the wire. He was one full minute behind the Black Team. Fortunately for him, Megan's hair had gotten caught on a wire and her spazztic movements got her more tangled.

Sarah had watched Arnold's crawl and imitated it to the best of her ability. Her back continued to naturally raise so she was slower than she had hoped.

The girls' fabric was hemp (a soft durable fiber that came from trees.) Drake and Jeffery had wool while Jenna and Kathy had spandex.

Ten minutes passed before Helga finally got blindfolded. She had a minimal amount of time before Kathy made it through the wire to Mark.

Helga saluted her competition, "See you later, cowboy!" Diving into the sand with all the force she could manage, Helga began her crawl under the wire. As she moved, a long barb jabbed her in directly the hip. "Son of a bitch!" Helga felt as if she was a hooked fish.

Mark, who was now hat-less, continued to easily slide through the sand.

"Ow, _fuck,_" Helga quickly jerked away from the barb, removing it quickly from her body like a band-aid. Ignoring the blood that pooled at the end of her shirt and the pain, she continued to fight through the sand.

"Come on Helga! Fight!" Sarah screamed. "You can do it!"

"Helga's one tough bitch," Andrew mumbled. Arnold nodded in agreement.

Helga escaped the barbed wire and made it down the hill. Thinking fast, Helga rubbed the things against her cheeks. She held her breath, trying to prevent gagging at the scent of rotting pig and fish. Helga's cheeks were sticky with sweat and a little bit of blood, making it even harder for her to decide between two fabrics she found. Finally taking a chance, Helga latched onto the silk with her teeth and began running. Mark was also in the same boat, the two of them now racing neck and neck under the wire.

Helga's heart beat was loud in her ears, drowning out the shrieks from her team. Her cheeks and throat were caked with sand, her breathing ragged from her sprinting. She_needed_ to win this. Winning the first challenge always boosted confidence and kept the player's in good spirits for the next one.

Helga's adrenaline was coursing hard through her veins. Her sweat and blood was making the sand stick to her, a little bit of it getting into her mouth.

Barbs continued to scrape up and down her back, another one hooking hard into her leg. Without even thinking she ripped her leg free from the entanglement, holding back her pained moan. Being blind definitely made this entire ordeal worse.

"And we have a winner!"

Helga froze under the wire, heart deflating immediately. She wanted to scream and stand up and _fight, _but she couldn't. Not only was it because she was seriously in danger of killing herself on the barbs, but because she didn't want to look insane. This contest was still going to be aired on television.

Kip continued talking, "I'm sorry White Team, but Mark was just a little bit faster."

_White: 0_

**Black: 1**

Helga finally slipped out of maze, afraid to take her blindfold off and see the devastation on her team's face.

_Quick like taking out barbed wire, _she thought to herself, whipping the blindfold off forcefully. Sarah ran towards her, hugging her tightly.

"I'm sorry guys," Helga mumbled.

Andrew rested his arm supportively on Helga's shoulder, "It's okay. You were pretty badass in there, taking the pain like a champ."

"Everyone line up for the nurses to treat you," Kip announced into his megaphone. No one seemed to have any cuts as bad as Helga's. Her slices were doused with an anti-bacterial solution that burned her inflamed and injured skin. She was bandaged at her hip with gauze and athletic tape.

The show required them to film a final meeting with Kip repeating what everyone already knew: Black Team was in the lead with one point. Kip saluted the crew, "I'll see you guys tomorrow, bright and early for another barbed wire challenge."

Silently, the ten eighteen year olds piled into their van.

Somehow the challenge had managed to take three hours. And that wasn't including the two hours they had to wait on set for the cameras to set up. It was already one in the afternoon.

The only thing Helga really wanted was a nice long soak in a bubble bath and sleep.

"Good job you guys," Megan applauded her opponents.

"Thanks," Jenna replied.

Helga rolled her eyes before resting her had back against the car's headrest. Why were these girls so friendly? Didn't they know they were competing against each other?

"Who's up for a swim and grill? I saw some more patties in the fridge," Jeffery asked the van.

"Sounds awesome!"

Helga was unconvinced. "I'm pretty beat," she announced, "I think I'll just take some Advil and go to bed."

"Wait, first I want to have a White Team meeting," Drake said. "It'll be quick, I promise."

Helga reluctantly agreed.

Andrew, Drake, Sarah, Helga, and Jenna all huddled around a patio table, heads bent forwards to stare at the tabletop. They tried to keep their faces and lips out of sight.

A cameraman struggled to get a good angle on the group.

"We did good today, but not _great_." Drake whispered. "Tomorrow we have to come at the Black Team stronger, faster and meaner. We need to initiate some mind games."

"Isn't that a little ridiculous?" Helga asked. "I mean, we've only done one challenge. Can't we wait until we win one to start fucking with everyone?"

"No," Andrew replied, catching onto Drake's brilliant idea. "If we win then start to mess with them, they'll realize what we're up to. We have to do it now while we're seen as weak!"

"Exactly!"

"Andy, that's stupid," Jenna added.

"I think he's got a point," Sarah countered.

Helga looked around the circle, not-so-subtly glaring at Jenna, "Okay, so now that's it's agreed four to one that we should mess them up, what are we gonna do?"

"I'll think of something," Drake promised.

Drake's mind game plan didn't get to come into action until hours after dinner, when the house phone rang.

Every person in the house got a phone book and a log, to keep track of who called when so the show could pay for the phone line properly. The phone book showed all of the numbers the players planned to call.

Drake didn't recognize the area code or number, but picked up anyway, "Hello?"

"_Hi, this is Lila. I'm calling for Arnold. He left me a message a few hours ago that I didn't check until now._"

Drake looked around, realizing that he was alone except for the camera hanging above him. "Uh, actually, Lila, Arnold just stepped out."

"_Oh?_"

"Yeah," Drake grinned, realizing this was the perfect opportunity to fuck things up. "But Arnold has told me so much about you. You're the girlfriend from Stanford right?"

"_I beg your pardon?"_

"Oh, then you must be his girlfriend from Hillwood U, I'm sorry I'm terrible with names."

"_What?_"

Drake held back his laugh. "Oh, _Lila,_ you said, right? You must be the old girlfriend from Hillwood, then."

"_Listen, can you please tell Arnold to call me back when he returns?"_

"Sure thing."

Drake hung up the phone and turned around, surprised to see Arnold standing by the kitchen counter. "Hey, Arnold, your girlfriend just called. Said she wanted to return a message-"

Arnold dropped his water bottle into the sink and marched towards the phone. He hit the redial button and waited for Lila to pick up. It was almost ten at night, she never would have called unless it was important.

"Hel-"

"_We're over_."

* * *

><p><em>Tuesday, June 7, 2011<em>

_Challenge Two: Barbed Wire Balance_

* * *

><p>Arnold's heart started racing when he realized the van wasn't pulling over at the beach. Instead, the van drove up an incline for about half a mile, bringing the car to a complete stop near the edge of a cliff.<p>

He was completely exhausted and emotionally drained. He and Lila got into an intense argument last night. Apparently someone in the house had been so kind enough to suggest that he had other girlfriends.

Lila didn't know who it was, just that it was a guy. Arnold's gut thought was Drake, but that was unfair to assume that it was him. Drake could've overheard the conversation. He'd just have to find some free time on the weekend to ask the guys.

The accusation Lila made was stupid for a lot of reasons. He didn't even have _one _girlfriend, if Lila's stupid rule was taken literally into account. But her insane, uncalled for jealousy set in and she yelled nonsense at him for almost two hours.

It was a good thing he got out of that.

. . .But it still hurt. Lila was his first true love, his first adult relationship.

Well, he was using the word 'relationship' loosely.

And it really sucked that Gerald was out of reach because he really needed some cheering up. He was becoming so desperate for happiness he was considering going to Helga.

But things had been awkward between them since the party. Helga knew she had walked around topless and refused to be left alone with any of the guys, Arnold especially.

Arnold continued to press his forehead to the window, eyes dropping shut as he replayed a few choice words she had said to him. "_I hope you lose."_

The van finally rolled to a stop and Kip and George were standing next to four men holding different colored straps and wires.

_Shit, what are we doing? _Helga wondered as the kids stepped out of the van.

Once they were arranged in their teams, the cameras began rolling. "Good morning competitors! Today you will be doing something I like to call Barbed Wire Balance. Behind me is a rope ladder strung between these two cliffs. Resting in the middle of these cliffs and on a small platform are two flags, one black and one white."

Both teams all leaned to check behind Kip to see if he was telling the truth. He was.

"One player from each team will start on opposite sides. These two players will then race to the middle to capture their teams flag and then turn around. If you fall or drop your flag you are disqualified and lose the point for your team. We are only doing this once, so feel free to take your time."

Everyone exchanged worried glances. The entire challenge resting on _one _person?

"Are we clear?" Everyone reluctantly nodded. "Great," Kip grinned at the camera. George was off on the sideline, checking the two harnesses, ensuring that they were completely safe.

Kip laughed, "Oh, and did I forget to mention that the ladder is partly made out of barbed wire?"

The ten teens groaned and glared at Kip, who's impish smile revealed that he enjoyed teasing these kids. "For this challenge, and for every one following it, a computer will randomly match you with a competitor. Today we have Helga versus. . ."

The White Team was staring anxiously at the Black Team, wondering just who Helga would have to go up against.

Helga wasn't feeling very confident about herself since she lost the last challenge.

"Arnold."

Helga's doubt suddenly disappeared and she grinned. Now she had a second chance to prove herself to be a dominating force in this competition because Arnold was _Arnold,_chances were he'd end up feeling guilty for trying to win against her.

The Black Team was escorted across the inlet and to the other cliff edge. George and two harness controlling men strapped Arnold onto a safety wire.

Arnold swallowed the lump forming in his dry throat. He was not going to go down without a fight, he knew that was for sure. Arnold just didn't know if it was a fight he'd win.

"Harnesses ready?" Kip announced into a megaphone. George flashed a thumbs up. "Camera men, ready?" A helicopter took off and began to hover high enough over the ladder that no wind shook the platform. "Competitors ready?" Helga nodded, forcing herself to put on a brave face.

The only thing bothering her about this was the fact that there could be sharks down there in that cold ocean water.

"On your marks. . .get set. . ." an alarming fog horn sounded and jolted Helga off the side of the cliff. The White Team began cheering immediately as Helga forced herself to remain calm. She had been jerking violently after her horn scare.

Gingerly she moved, each motion balanced and deliberate. Helga could not risk acting quickly and losing another point for her team.

Arnold moved at a glacial pace, his hands and knees becoming easily cut on the barbed wire. He was sure Helga was doing much better than he was, she took the barb's jabs well.

_Don't look down, _the two blondes repeated in their heads. Helga focused on the white flag billowing in the ocean's breeze eight feet away from her.

Arnold found his vision shifting from the other cliff to the black flag, then back to Helga. Her mind seemed to be so intently focused on the flag that she didn't even know anything else existed.

Helga's mind was whirling as she stretched her arms out and pushed herself forwards. Arnold weighed more than her and created an imbalance on the ladder. The flags were leaning more towards him at a downward angle. If he thought about it, Arnold had the option of flipping the ladder over.

Helga smirked.

That actually wasn't a bad idea.

Challenge Soundtrack by MTV:

_West Coast Smoke_r by Fall Out Boy

_"Oh, hell yes, I'm a nervous wreck, oh hell yes. . ."_

Another half an hour later and the two teens were within two feet of their flags. Helga decided to stand up, shaking the barbed wire ladder violently.

Arnold's eyes finally moved away from staring at the White Team. Helga was standing, shaking the ladder back and forth. Making a split second decision, Arnold rose to his feet too.

Helga subtly inched forwards so she was close enough to reach her flag. Arnold reached out quickly, but that's when Helga wrapped her ankles around the rope of the ladder. She violently twisted her body to the side, completely twisting the ladder upside down.

The teams gasped as Arnold's body and the black flag plummeted towards the ocean. The two men holding his harness caught him just moments before he fell into the water.

Helga slowly crawled upside down and picked up the white flag. The White Team erupted into loud cheers as she continued to crawl forwards to the Black Team's side.

Helga smiled triumphantly as her two feet returned to solid ground. The Black Team glared at her as they helped Arnold up from his drop.

Arnold looked a little shaken and Helga immediately felt a sickening amount of guilt settle in her stomach. His eyes were wide, face pale and his hands were shaking.

Helga and Arnold stared at each other in tense silent as the White Team still cheered.

Helga opened her mouth to say something, to attempt an apology, but Kip cut her off.

_White: 1_

**Black: 1**

"Congratulations White Team!" he yelled into his megaphone. "Hold on tight Helga!"

A retractable safety line began whirring, whipping Helga up into the air and across the twenty feet gap. Her adrenaline began pumping from surprise, but she took the moment to appreciate the peacefulness of flying through the air. The cold wind hit her face and cooled her down. Somehow she managed to work up a sweat crossing the barbed wire bridge.

"Alright, you guys are free to go!"

The camera men landed the helicopter and everyone else began to pack up. The challenge had taken almost two hours of slow crawling. Arnold knew he'd be feeling the pain in his upper arms and pectorals tomorrow.

Arnold waited until the rest of the team had walked away, his expression still fallen from losing the challenge.

Once everyone was far enough away, Arnold suddenly smiled. He slowly removed something from behind his back. In a painfully slow manner, Arnold unrolled the black fabric to reveal that it was, in fact, the fallen black flag from the challenge.

He had caught it.

A camera man asked Arnold to sit in on a confessional to talk about it.

Arnold held up the flag, "I caught it as soon as I started falling. I probably should have just let it go. I knew I was never going to make it back up in time. But it was just nice to see. . ." Arnold smiled as his voice trailed off. He toyed with the end of the polyester sheet. "It was nice to see Helga so proud of herself. I know that losing yesterday really hurt her. I know she'd never admit to anyone, not even herself, but she's sensitive."

Arnold smiled and turned off the light, tucking the flag into his pocket.

It was almost eleven, the rest of the house all curled up in their beds reading books or watching television, but Arnold saw a flicker of light outside. It was too faint to be a flashlight. It looked maybe like a camera's screen.

A camera man began following Arnold outside.

Helga grinned, eyes setting on the stars up above her. It was a beautifully clear night, not a cloud in the sky. At this height in the cliff, she could practically feel them.

"Knock knock," a deep voice called.

Helga turned up from her lawn chair, eyes setting on the football shaped silhouette.

Romance Soundtrack by MTV

_Stop & Stare _by OneRepublic

"_Stop and stare, I think I'm moving but I go no where, __yeah I know that everyone gets scared, __but I've become what I can't be."_

_Getting Into You _by Relient K

_"I'm getting into you b__ecause you got to me in a way words can't describe_  
><em>I'm getting into you <em>_because I've got to be,_ _you're essential to survive,_  
><em>I'm going to love you with my life."<em>

"Hey," she hesitantly replied, awkwardly sitting up.

Arnold sat down beside her, "I just wanted to congratulate you on a good job today. I never saw that coming, it was a very smart move."

Helga felt herself blush, a heat of excitement pooling in her stomach. She was so grateful for the darkness at that moment. "It was nothing, Football Head."

Arnold nodded, suddenly growing quiet.

Helga picked up that something was wrong, something he wasn't telling her. "Are. . ." she cleared her throat, "What are you pouting about? Your loss?"

Arnold jerked out of his daze, "Huh? No. Uh, actually. . ." Arnold shifted awkwardly, shaking his head back and forth. "Lila and I broke up."

Helga's eyebrows quirked up. "So, you two did date."

"Yeah," Arnold rolled his eyes. "It was. . .whatever. She didn't like labels."

"So she could fuck around, right?"

Arnold's nose crinkled in disgust. It sounded so vulgar and wrong. But at the same time it was true, more or less. "I guess."

Helga finally relaxed, leaning backwards into the chair, "Why did she break up with you?"

He looked up from the ground, eyes wide. "How did you-?"

"You would not be this upset if you dumped her. Clearly this came as a surprise, Football Head." She shrugged, "I'm good at reading people."

Arnold pursed his lips, falling silent for a moment. "Do you think, maybe, you could help me?"

Helga bolted up from her seat, practically falling into Arnold's lap, "_Help _you?" Arnold nodded. "You're asking _me _for help? Seriously?"

"Yes. I just need someone to tell me that it's okay, that what I'm doing is worth is, and to you know. . .find the bright side." Arnold chuckled nervously, realizing just how crazy he sounded.

Helga nodded, feeling her mouth suddenly go dry. "Uh. . .I guess, sure, I'll give it my best." She sat up straighter and cleared her throat, which caused Arnold to smirk. They were now sitting shoulder to shoulder, knee to knee. "Well, you want this money so you can go to college. And it's not just any college it's _Stanford._ And you want to study what you love, you want to learn how to really help people." Helga blushed when she realized she was rambling. "You're so close to reaching your goal, Hair Boy. You can do it. You just can't stop fighting or let some little bit-" Helga stopped herself, "_witch _like Lila get in your way."

Arnold silently agreed, simply smiling to encourage her to continue. He was more impressed by Helga's agreement to help him cheer up. And she was doing a fairly good job.

Helga's heart started hammering hard in her chest when she realized how intensely focused Arnold was on her. It was like he was hanging on every word she said.

He had never looked at her like that before.

"I don't give out compliments often, actually I _never _do, but you're a good kid, Arnold. You deserve this more than any of those jerks we're competing against."

Arnold smiled, "Wow. Thanks, Helga."

"Well, I think that's enough goody-goody for the week. Don't tell anyone, okay?" Helga stood up after nudging Arnold in the ribs, "I just did this to humor you."

Arnold sealed his lips, eyes following her as she walked away, "Whatever you say, Helga."

* * *

><p><em>Wednesday, June 8th, 2011<em>

_Challenge Three: Going Fishing_

* * *

><p>Drake was up for half of the night trying to think of a way to destroy Arnold. Clearly he was the only <em>real <em>male competition he had.

As he paced back and forth in the bathroom, he noticed movement outside on the patio. That's when he caught sight of Arnold and Helga sitting awfully close together. His next plan of action hit him like a ton of bricks and now he'd have to put it to the test.

"Today's challenge is called Going Fishing," Kip began excitedly, "and in this river there is a flag encased in a box. The box is covered in barbed wire and it's strong enough to cut through fishing poles. You each have a key but only one will open it. Good luck getting the flag's out. You have three minutes to come up with a strategy."

The White Team huddled close just like they had on the first night. Andrew began, "Okay, I say we each swim down there, but we have to be fast."

Helga nodded, "The first person to go down should be able to hold their breath for a long time."

"I used to be on swim team," Drake added.

Jenna nodded, "Good. So you'll go down first and find the box."

Sarah's eyes grew wide, "Wait, is there a rule about bringing it out of the water?"

"None that I heard."

"Sarah you're a genius!" Andrew kissed the top of her head and clapped excitedly.

"Time's up!" Kip honked a horn. "Player's get ready to swim."

Drake stepped up to the side of the river, eyes going wide when he saw the entire Black Team standing on the edge.

"Get ready. . ." George began, pointing to Kip.

"Go!"

The entire Black Team dove into the murky river, splashing and kicking so violently that it was hard for Drake to jump in without getting hit.

He finally managed to submerge himself to the bottom, hovering close to the algae covered ground. His eyes were slowly adjusting to the clouds of dust hazing his vision. Drake ran his hands along the bottom to feel for the barbed wire.

He ran out of breath, so he popped up for air a few feet away from the Black's crazy kicking competition.

Sucking in as much air as possible, Drake dove back under.

Arnold thought The Black Team were geniuses. They decided to all jump in and kick around as much as possible near the surface to disrupt the White Team's quest for their box. Their kicking would bring dirt up from the bottom and stop them from seeing anything. Mark had a waterproof flashlight on his Swiss Army Knife and he decided to use it. Jeff held all of the keys and swam as close as possible to his brother while Arnold, Kathy and Megan splashed. They were brilliant.

Drake's elbow jammed against something hard before a stinging pain bolted through his nerve. He definitely found a box.

Acting quickly, he hoisted the long box upwards with an intense force, fighting against the river's current. Struggling for air, Drake kicked with all his might. His lungs were losing air _fast._

Upon breaking the surface, Drake choked and screamed, calling for his teammates.

Andy helped him hoist out the box and together the two began working on unlocking it. The lock itself was buried under five layers of barbed wire.

The black team still hadn't found their case yet.

"Go go go!" Jenna screamed, tossing another key at the boys.

"I'm trying!" Drake shouted back, slicing another chunk of skin off his palm.

None of their keys fit into the rusted lock.

"That means. . ."

Helga noticed the Black Team's movements slow. Acting on impulse, she dove into the river and landed on Mark's back. Mark hissed in pain and dropped his flashlight and a key under the water.

"You bitch!" Jeff screamed and stood up in the six foot deep water. Jeff violently shoved Helga off his brother's back.

Helga kicked hard under her feet to keep herself above the river. "Give me the case!"

"No, it's ours!" Kathy replied.

"No it's not! We got your case-" Helga's voice trailed off when she realized that was a stupid thing to say.

Five bodies began swimming forwards, their legs kicking into Helga as they tried to make it to the shore. Helga felt one swift kick to her lungs suck the air out of her.

Before she knew it she was dizzy and buried under the sea.

She was hoisted out of the water moments later by Drake, who's abdomen was bleeding badly after he jumped onto the Black Team's flag box. He gave up the fight when he realized Helga was practically drowning in the river.

Her shirt ended up being attached to their box.

Fortunately the White Team caught on that something was wrong and rushed to their teammate's aid. While Drake attended to their fallen member, Jenna, Andrew and Sarah were busy unlocking the lock.

Helga was still alive, conscious, and breathing. She was just a little shocked and had swallowed too much water.

"Those jerks could've just killed you," Drake panted. "Are you okay?"

Helga inhaled deeply, coughing out some murky water. "Thanks."

Drake grinned and helped Helga to her feet, "At least we won."

As soon as Drake said it, the White Team's rusty lock cracked open.

_White: 2_

**Black: 1**

Jumping to her feet and screaming, Helga embraced Drake quickly before running to her team. The five teens sprinted towards Kip, who laughed at their excitement.

The White Team was officially in the lead! Helga continued to jump and hug Sarah tightly. A huge sense of relief and excitement washed over her.

She turned away from hugging Jenna though. She still felt strongly against Jenna's slutty attitude and the fact that she made moves on Arnold.

"Congratulations White Team! You are now in the lead!"

The Black Team sighed in defeat, kicking their barbed wire box in anger.

There was only two challenges left and if they lost tomorrow the Black Team would be a completely lost cause.

* * *

><p><em>Thursday, June 9th, 2011<em>

_Challenge Four: In Wire We Trust_

* * *

><p>"Today we have a little team building challenge," Kip began happily. It was only eight in the morning, everyone still too tired and half-asleep to react.<p>

"Now a player from each team will be wrapped in barbed wire. Their teammates must then carry the wired teammate up a mile incline. The person with the least amount of cuts on their body wins. You have forty-five minutes to get to the top. Good luck."

The White Team huddled once again, "Who's lighter, Jenna, Sarah or Helga?"

"Rude," Jenna hissed.

"I say we go with Helga either way. She takes those stabs like she's got iron skin."

Helga shrugged, "Sure, I'll do it. I don't mind. We'll definitely win!"

Helga and Kathy were both tied up in barbed wire. The wire went around their entire body, stopping at their shoulder blades.

"You have forty five minutes starting _now_."

Helga held her breath as Drake and Andrew hoisted them onto their shoulders. Her feet dangled into Drake's face while her head rested against Andrew's neck. Sarah and Jenna carefully held Helga's sides to prevent her from moving too much.

Helga exhaled deeply, letting her eyes shut so she didn't have to watch the barbs indent her skin. "I swear to God, if you drop me I will castrate you both."

A few of the cameramen sniggered into their hands.

"That's a threat I won't take lightly," Drake replied, eyes casting upwards as he mouthed, "Oh, God."

Megan winced as the boys on the Black Team picked Kathy up. She was short so it was easier and it also meant less barbed wire. "Gently!"

"I'm fine. Just don't drop me!" Kathy laughed nervously. It was the first time anyone had seen her tough as nails façade fall. Kathy had done every challenge easily, without so much as blinking an eye. She really wasn't afraid of anything...until now.

Arnold began counting out a rhythm for his steps with Jeff.

Mark suddenly began whistling to the beat, breaking out into a little melody, "_Right, left, right, left, __step, step, step, C__arryin' a girl __up the hill, __don't let her drop, __or she'll be bleedin'."_

"Please don't sing," Kathy said between jabs of pain. Some wire was slowly embedding itself into her ass.

"Sorry, darlin," Mark replied, tipping his hat.

The teams were now three quarters of a mile up the hill, almost running out of time. "Fifteen minutes!" Kip shouted from somewhere hidden.

"Helga, " Jenna began, "I think we need to run."

"Do you realize how stupid that would be?" Helga snapped, eyes glaring up at the perfectly blue sky. She had spent the time imagining different things in the clouds, the most common sight a very familiar football shape. "I would be jabbed a million times."

"Not if we held you still and all ran at the same pace."

"I say no way," Drake said.

"Guys, The Black Team is on our ass!" Andrew interrupted.

Jenna continued on with her stupid argument, "Unless you want to lose and be completely out of the running and get sent to elimination on Friday, we have to step it up and take this risk!"

Sarah groaned, "I hate to say it, but she's right."

"Fuck you, Sarah," Helga grit her teeth.

Sarah smirked, "I love you too Helga."

The White Team took off in a slow run, leaving The Black Team behind and very confused.

"Don't focus on them," Arnold said. "We just need to stay focused on our pace. We're almost there. Mark, count us out."

Mark grinned, "Right, left, right, left, step, step, step-"

"Only five minutes!"

Panic began to set in for the Black Team as they heard the cheers echoing off the top of the hill.

"We cannot run. She'll get insanely cut up!" Megan cried.

"We'll also get DQed if we don't hurry up!" Jeff snapped.

"Alright guys, calm down," Arnold intervened, "We'll just pick up our pace a little bit. We still have time."

Kip stood at the top of the mountain, clutching hard onto his official stop watch. He'd hate to have to disqualify a team but they only had thirty seconds. . .

"We're here!" Mark screamed, gingerly helping balance Kathy as they made it up the last small incline.

Kip smirked and stopped the timer, "Alrighty then. Girls, you'll need to go to the nurse to have your cuts tallied and treated."

An hour later the two girls stepped out of the makeshift Nursing tent, both incredibly stiff and sore.

The nurse handed over a small piece of paper before stepping away.

A camera began rolling, watching as Kip read over the official tallies George had overseen.

"And the winner with 213 cuts is The Black Team!"

_White: 2_

**Black: 2**

Helga hung her head in defeat, feeling another wave of humiliation crash down on her, just as it had on their first challenge. Everything was her fault. Why couldn't she have stopped squirming so much?

"Jenna, this is your fault!" Helga seethed.

"I just thought it would be better! I had no idea they were that balanced!" Jenna covered her face with her hands, tears streaking down her cheeks. "I'm sorry!"

Sarah rolled her eyes, "Sorry doesn't win us a challenge, now does it?"

"Girls, please!" Drake stepped between them. "Let's just go home, get some food and strategize for tomorrow. We need to kick serious ass."

Tomorrow would be the most intense day, both teams prepared to practically kill the other to win and be safe from an elimination round.

Back at the house, Jenna and Megan were talking in very hushed whispers while everyone else ate lunch.

"I think you and I should team up," Megan said. "You know, like an alliance?"

Jenna shrugged, "What would that do for us?"

"We'd both have to agree to duck out of the challenges at the same time, no matter what. We'd stop together. I don't want to lose you, you're like my best friend." Jenna and Megan hugged.

"Tomorrow you and I will lose together. That way it'll be a draw."

* * *

><p><em>Friday, June 10th, 2011<em>

_Challenge Five: Will and Wire Power_

* * *

><p>The next morning the teens walked out onto the beach below their house. "Today is a test of individual strength. You will need to submerge your hand into these lovely jars of vinegar. In order to do so you must put your hand through barbed wire."<p>

"You're sick!" Sarah snapped.

"You can choose not to participate, but it will add a negative amount of time onto your team, meaning they'll have to stay in their jars longer."

Sarah shut up.

"The final player standing will win."

Kip stepped aside and let each person line up beside the wooden stand. A large pickle jar was glued down to the stand and they were placed far enough apart so no one could kick or knock over the other's.

"On your marks, get set. . ." George blew an alarm and the teens began screaming in pain.

It was like something horrifying out of the _Saw _series_._

Helga was certain this is what burning to death by acid felt like. Nothing in her life had ever made her hurt so badly. She just wanted to cut her arm off to stop the pain.

Five minutes in an no one had stopped.

Kip stood a few feet away on the beach in the shade, "Remember, the first person to remove their hand will be fighting for their survival in the Elimination Challenge that will take place later today."

The teams were about to reach the thirty minute point. Now their hands had almost fallen completely numb. Drake and Andrew's jars had the most amount of bloody vinegar. Helga's wrist was scraped pretty badly and close to a major vein. She had to stand perfectly still or else she'd be a dead woman.

Meghan and Jenna both shared a knowing glance, slowly nodding in synch as they counted down in their heads. _Three. . .two. . .one. ._

Jenna swiftly removed her hand, screaming in pain as it made contact with the air.

Unfortunately, she was the only one to take it out.

The White Team glared at Jenna. "Why would you do that?" Sarah shouted.

"It just really hurt!" Jenna's eyes pooled with tears as she was escorted off to the ambulance.

"White Team, it looks like you'll be in the elimination this evening. Let's see if they have a chance to redeem themselves."

They didn't.

One by one The White Team dropped like flies, leaving Helga up in a battle against Mark, Jeff and Kathy.

It had been another hour since Jenna first lost.

Helga's fingers were numb and she was suffering from intense pins and needles pressures. She needed to free her hand but in order to do that she'd run the risk of cutting herself even deeper.

But it just hurt _so badly_.

_Don't do it! _her heart seemed to shout as her muscles flexed tensely.

_You're in pain, retreat! _her body jerked violently, taking her mind by surprise.

Helga collapsed into the sand, clutching her injured hand as the vinegar dripped down her cuts.

Once again, Helga hung her head in shame.

_White: 2_

**Black: 3**

Kip waved two fingers at the teens, "Jenna and the White Team, follow me down the beach to the Elimination Wheel."

Drake, Andrew, Helga and Sarah lined up on the left side of the wheel while Jenna and Kip stood on the right. A camera quickly zoomed in on everyone's expressions before beginning.

"Before I explain the challenges and rules, I would like Jenna to pick her competition. Who do you want to take off your team and out of this show?"

Jenna's innocent and injured expression immediately transformed to an angry glare. "Helga," she replied instantly.

"Do you accept the challenge, Helga?"

Helga stepped forwards, pressing her chest against Jenna's. Their eyes locked in a heated stare as she hissed, "You're damn right I do."

**_Elimination Wheel Challenges: _**Whoever lost in the sudden death was removed from the show.

**_Electric Rodeo - _**How long you can last on a mechanical bull with one hand? If you last longer than 20 minutes you'll be shocked randomly.

**_The Ring - _**Two metal chains that hook around the competitor's feet are attached to a large, heavy ring. The challengers could only use their arms and upper body to get out of the thirty-foot wide circle created in the sand.

**_Sock 'Em _**_- _Hovering over the ocean at twenty feet, two players are given foam covered sticks. First player to fall off the beam twice loses.

**_Pole Climb - _**Two competitors climb a 10-foot pole. Whoever gets to the top first pulls a lever that drops the opponent's pole into the pool. (_As seen on The Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Gauntlet)_

**_Reverse Tug-O-War - _**Players are tied to each other, facing away from each other. First to get their flag wins. (_As seen on The Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Gauntlet 2)_

**_Rock, Paper, Scissors - _**The household game done in the best two out of three rounds.

**_Captain's Choice_**

**_Competition's Choice_**

Jenna shut her eyes and spun the wheel.

Helga held her aching hand, glaring hard at the sand. She knew the reason why she was getting called out was because she was a threat. Helga actually had a chance to win this game and Jenna wanted her gone.

The group gasped when it landed on The Ring.

The two girls were quickly suited up into metal chains and instructed to wait.

-HA!-

"Say it!" Helga screamed, blood quickly running from her brain to her wounded ankles.

"No!"

Helga felt herself growing weak. She was cut and bruised, sore and tired. The only things spurring her on to keep fighting were the cheers emanating from the sideline. Helga could hear everyone calling _her _name, not Jenna's.

_They want me to stay, _she thought happily.

Jenna and Helga had been out here for half an hour already, the sun was beginning to make it's initial descent from the sky. Both girl's weighed the same and The Ring had the same affect on both. But Helga really wanted to win. Helga _needed_ to stay and win this scholarship. She needed to get the hell out of Hillwood.

"_Come on, Helga_!"

The cheering suddenly went quiet to Helga's buzzing ears.

The camera focused in on her face as Helga looked up from the ground. Her arms began moving, trying and pull herself along the ground with a wrapped up hand. Clouds of dust formed before her eyes and the camera lens, tears started streaking down Helga's grimy face as a natural reaction.

It was clear that through the dusty cloud Helga could see one particular football headed challenger cheering loudly. His all black uniform was ripped to shreds from taking his hand out of the jar, he looked exhausted and he was covered in sweat, but he was still screaming. Arnold was louder than Helga's own teammates, telling for her to fight Jenna. "_Don't stop!"_

"This is your last chance, Jenna," Helga seethed, rolling her body over to face Jenna's flailing form. Helga tugged her bleeding feet forwards, jerking Jenna back a few inches. "Admit it! You were in an alliance with Megan this whole time! That's why we lost today!"

Jenna refused to turn around and continued to try and move towards her side of the circle.

Helga was right. Helga knew she was, she saw them share a deceiving look.

"Fine then! Guess we'll do it the hard way!" Helga sucked in a quick breath before crawling with all the power she could muster.

Jenna put up quiet a fight, kicking and grunting and clawing at the dirt. Helga was carrying almost two hundred extra pounds around her ankles, but she didn't want to stop.

Both of the girl's adrenaline was pumping hard, forcing them to keep going. Helga was injured, sweating and incredibly dehydrated, but she didn't want to give up. This competition had just begun, there was no way in Hell she was going home yet!

Helga was inching her way closer, now only ten feet from the exit of the sand circle. Jenna had barely made any progress and was dragged back even farther.

Helga switched her position from clawing at the dirt to using an army-styled crawl. Leveraging against her elbows, Helga managed to crawl out of the ring's barrier.

As soon as Helga crossed that chalked off line, tears of joy poured from her eyes.

Helga was safe!

A loud buzzer blared overhead and Helga felt the weight detach from her ankles. Helga remained on the ground, motionless because muscles were shaking from their sudden overuse and Helga could feel waves of pain cascading down her spine.

Seconds later, Helga was hoisted above her head by the White Team, Drake, Andrew and Sarah screaming in joy.

The Elimination Song by MTV:

_Cut_ by Jimmy Eat World

_"I'm sorry, but I'm not cut out for this no more."_

No one except Megan went to hug Jenna goodbye. After Jenna's legs were cleaned up she was driven back to the house to pack.

Kip Daniels grinned as he walked through the clouds of dust. Drake and Andrew slowly lowered Helga back to the ground. She could feel a steady blood flow staining her socks. Helga pulled tightly on Andrew's white wife beater to steady herself and keep from passing out right then and there.

Kip slapped his palm on the winner's weak shoulder, "Congratulations Helga, you just survived the first elimination round! How does it feel?"

"It feels great to be out of there," Helga wiped sweat off her forehead, "but I don't ever want to go back in there again."

"That's what they all say," Kip smiled. "We'll be back next week with a new challenge and a new elimination. Until next time," Kip saluted the camera. As soon as it was off he yelled at the crew, "Someone get a nurse!"

Helga was carried off to a small ambulance where her legs and knuckles were bandaged and rocks were removed from her bleeding abdomen with tweezers. Helga was given a large water bottle and told to drink it all before leaving.

"Great job out there, Pataki."

Helga peered out of the trunk of the ambulance, her heart starting to beat rapidly. _Arnold._

"Uh. . .thanks, Arnoldo." Helga took a large gulp of water to fill the silence.

Helga wasn't really thinking about any of the awkwardness too much though. _Arnold being so close to me, all covered in sweat and grime._ . _. I should not be finding this sexy._

"How are you feeling?" he asked quietly.

"_Fine_," she replied sharply. "It was nothing but some weights, Football Head. No need to get so worried."

Arnold gingerly rolled her left ankle to expose the part of the band-aid and gauze that was soaked with blood. "Just some weights, huh?"

"Paws off," Helga hit his hands away, slowly retracting her legs so Helga could sit cross legged. Every movement really hurt.

He pointed behind him to the empty beach where Helga had been crawling on almost an hour ago, "We're heading back to the house now since Jenna's gone. Do you need any help moving?"

"_God, _Arnold, I told you!" Helga slid off the gurney and hesitantly put her feet to the ground, "I'm fine."

Helga took two steps forwards before feeling an intense burn around her ankle bones. Instead of asking for help, she inhaled a quick breath and clenched her fists, trying to fight through the pain. But before Helga could say another word, Arnold had picked her up. He was carrying her bridal style towards the van.

Helga's loud shriek got the seven other player's attention.

"Arnold's a dead man," Andrew smirked.

"Let's watch her kill him from the safety of our van," Sarah replied, laughing.

Helga was still struggling, trying to push out of Arnold's arms. "Let go of me, damn it! Arnold! I'm _serious!_"

Arnold laughed and lowered Helga back to the ground, "Relax, Pataki, you're in the van."

Helga rolled her eyes and scowled at him before slowly sliding into the backseat. Helga hoped no one could see the intense blush on her dust covered cheeks.

Helga knew this was his not-so-subtle way of thanking her for her stupid Lila Break Up advice.

The drive back to the mansion was spent in silence, everyone trying to sleep off their pain from the most excruciating challenge. Helga was in the most pain. Since she had to crawl on the uneven sand, her muscles were spasming at random from overexertion. Groaning, Helga massaged her calves. She winced in pain at the motion in her vinegar-soaked wrist.

She couldn't imagine how the rest of this game was going to be if she could barely handle the first week.


	4. 2x03: Knee Deep in Dirt

**How Badly Do You Want It?: Students Edition**

* * *

><p>Monday, June 13th, 2011<p>

7:04 a.m.

Kip Daniels paced back and forth his luxurious hotel room, anxiously twisting his microphone wire around his fingers. The show's roughly edited pilot was a big hit with MTV, but they wanted more drama.

_More drama._

How the hell was he going to get more drama? In the first week, Drake managed to sabotage a three year relationship with a two minute phone call. It was a really dicky move, but the audience loved villains.

And it was clear that Jenna and Helga didn't have the best relationship, if that hushed pantry talk had clued him into anything. They both had some sort of infatuation with Arnold. Except now Jenna was gone. . .

The entire house was wired and tripped with cameras, except the bathrooms for privacy. The teens knew it too, even if they didn't suspect it to be true.

But how could he use these conflicts to his advantage?

He needed an ally in the house. Someone to be his eyes and ears when the cameras couldn't actually capture anything.

_Knock knock._

Kip jumped across the bed and opened the door, confused and relieved to see a competitor's face.

"Is everything okay?"

"I overheard George say to his pretty little make up girl that you need _more _drama."

"Uh. . ."

Sarah shoved her way into the hotel room, grinning, "Well, I know where you can get it."

* * *

><p><em>Episode Two - Mud Pits<em>

_Filmed: Monday, June 13th, 2011 - Friday June 17, 2011_

* * *

><p>"Welcome back to the second week of <em>How Badly Do You Want It?: Students Edition<em>," Kip flipped up another index card, "this week we're getting down and dirty in the mud."

Everyone cheered. How dangerous could _mud _be?

"Before we can start, though, we need to nominate team captains. I will give you two minutes to decide."

The Black Team all shared a short glance before shrugging. They silently agreed that Arnold should be captain. He was level-headed and kept the team's interest at heart more than his own.

The White Team huddled up, Andrew and Drake casting side glances at each other.

"I don't want to do it," Sarah said quickly.

Drake nodded, "Okay, Helga, how do you feel about it?"

"I know for a fact that Black Team chose Arnold. I'm not nice enough to be captain, plus no one listens to me anyway." She shot a glare at her so called team. "And I'd hate having to go against him on who has the better team."

"I'll take that as a no then."

Helga smirked, "Drake, you have some good points about mind games, but when it comes to serious strategies you kind of suck."

"Alright. What do you think, Sarah?"

Sarah lowered her eyes to the sand, "You are kind of a jerk."

Drake sighed angrily, "Alright, so I take it you want to be captain, Andrew?"

"Well, I_ assumed_ the choice would be obvious. I am always right."

"I don't appreciate your cocky attitude-"

"Now it _not _the time to turn on each other," Helga snapped. "Save it for the Black Team, okay?"

"Ten seconds!" Kip announced. The White Team split up. "Do we have an agreement?"

Andrew and Arnold both stepped forwards. Kip smirked, he wasn't too surprised with their choices. "Alright, then, captains, come here and get your bands." George handed the two boys sweatbands, like the kind soccer players wore on their upper arms.

"Good luck today, everyone! And don't forget, White Team, you're a man down."

_Challenge One: Tug O' War_

Score: _White: 2 ~ _**Black: 3**

"We need to set this up with our weight in the back," Andrew began, pointing to Drake. "We're the two strongest, we'll be anchors. Sarah will be in the front and Helga in the middle. We want to beat them."

"Alright, got it!"

The teams quickly wrapped their hands around the dynamic rope, the incredibly thick and durable kind rock climbers used, and tensed. The two teams waited for the count of three before tugging.

Challenge Soundtrack by MTV:

_Remember the Name _by Fort Minor

_"This is 10% luck, 20% skill, 15% concentrated power of will, 5% pleasure, 50% pain and 100% reason to remember the name."_

Black Team had a similar plan, anchoring two men at the base of the rope's end. Except they also put Mark in the front, allowing him to tug with more aggression.

Sarah screamed and flew forwards after Mark's vicious tug. Her face smacked the platform hard, her body teetering over the edge of the middle, where a mud pit sat.

"Sorry, Sarah, you let go," Kip announced, circling the platform. He not-so-subtly pushed Sarah into the mud.

"You _prick_!" Helga snarled, grip loosening around the rope.

"Pay attention!" Kip replied, drawing Helga's focus back to the competition.

The flag hanging over the middle had only moved a few inches towards the Black Team's side, but that was enough leverage for John and Arnold to tug harder.

"Come on," Kathy hissed through grit teeth. "Just a few more!"

"On the count of three," Arnold shouted. "One. . .two. . . _three_!" The Black Team leaned forwards before pulling back again. Helga lost her footing and in two seconds she was meeting Sarah in the mud.

Drake and Andrew shared a shrug before letting go, realizing the fight was lost.

_White: 2_

**Black: 4**

The Black Team stumbled backwards onto their platform, limbs becoming entangled at the release of weight on the other side.

Drake happily dove face first into the mud pit. Sarah and Helga shrieked as he splashed around.

Helga waded her way through the mud and up to the side. Drake picked her up onto his shoulders and pushed her upwards, "Grab someone's hand! I can't hold you forever, Helga!"

Helga's pained expression changed into a grin when she realized Arnold was walking towards her. _I could always use another April Fool's Joke, _Helga thought.

Arnold smiled, "Need any help?"

Helga shifted her weight against Drake's shoulders. He winced in pain, "Ow! _Fuck_, Pataki, do you have cleats on?"

"Can you help a poor girl out?" she asked innocently.

Arnold stroked his chin thoughtfully, "I _would, _but I know how your devious mind works, Helga. You are going to pull me into the mud."

"I swear on my own life, I would never pull you in."

"Just pick her up, Arnold! My shoulders are breaking under her weight!" Drake pleaded over-dramatically. Helga kicked his head as punishment for calling her fat.

Just as Arnold's large hand wrapped around hers, Helga saw twin figures jump out of nowhere and shove Arnold forwards.

Helga found herself, once again, falling into the mud pit at Arnold's expense.

The pit itself dropped six feet, the height of the platform, and was filled with half a foot of mud.

Arnold groaned when he landed face first into the mud, his ribs feeling as if they had caved in.

"Jeff! Mark! You assholes!" Helga shrieked, wiping the excess mud from her mouth and eyes. Sarah burst into laughter and slid over to Arnold, pouting sympathetically as she wiped some mud off his eyes.

"Thanks," Arnold said between spitting out the dirt and catching his breath.

Sarah subtly slid closer, wiping splatters of mud off his cheeks and lips with her fingers.

Arnold froze, breathing suddenly becoming even more ragged. He found himself staring into her caramel colored eyes, feeling his heart flutter a little bit. He hadn't had any attention like this from another girl in _years. _

Helga had been hoisted out of the pit by Mark, who apologized again by tipping his leather cowboy hat.

Jeff and Drake suddenly snickered and pointed to the pit. Helga's eyes followed their fingers only to find herself gasp.

Sarah was practically in Arnold's lap!

Helga's blood was beginning to boil. She knew she had a disgusted look on her face and she could feel the camera lens burning into her soul. They were catching _everything. _

But when Sarah and Arnold separated to a reasonable distance, Helga shrugged her paranoia off as just that, _paranoia._ Sarah would never do anything like that because she knew that Helga liked him. _Right?_

* * *

><p><em>Tuesday, June 14th, 2011<em>

_ Challenge Two: Flag Finding_

* * *

><p>Helga tugged her freshly bleached White Team shirt over her head and cracked her neck. She was starting to hate waking up so early and decided to flop back down under her covers.<p>

Ten minutes later a loud grumble erupting from her stomach drove her out of bed. Lifting herself onto the ground, Helga paused to inhale the intoxicating scent of pancakes warming on a grittle.

Helga marched down the stairs, _God Bless whoever got up at the ungodly hour to make. . ._

Andrew grinned from behind flour covered cheeks, dark eyes lighting up with a childlike-gleam, as if he was excited to be caught cooking. "Morning," he said between whistling as he flipped another pancake.

"Ay, Captain," Helga teased, collapsing down on a bar stool. She waved her hand to signal that she wanted some food.

"Anything you want on your breakfast? I have cherries, whipped cream, syrups galore, strawberries-"

"_No _strawberries!" Helga shrieked, "I'm deathly allergic."

Andrew shoved the bowl of strawberries as far away as his six foot tall body could reach. He then flipped a fresh batch of pancakes onto a plate and arranged the toppings within Helga's reach.

Helga pointed her fork at Andrew accusingly, "We've been here for almost two weeks and I still don't know anything about you besides your really sick leading skills, Captain."

Andrew tried to hide his satisfied smirk, "Is that my new nickname?"

Helga nodded and shook up the can of aerosol whipped cream, "Would you prefer Andy, Drew, Captain or something incredibly insulting? I mean I am extending a_ rare_ hand in friendship here-"

"Captain is good," Andrew mumbled with a mouth full, "but why the sudden friendship?"

"You make food," Helga mumbled.

Andrew tossed his head back and laughed, "Of course. Uh, well, there's not much to tell you. I live in Hartford with my two little brothers and my parents. They don't earn enough collectively to send me to a college like Dartmouth, they can barley afford to pay in-state tuition for me. If I lose, I'm going to Central Connecticut State with a ton of loans."

Helga slowly lowered her fork, eyes falling on her delicious plate of breakfast. She _could_ almost afford going to college. Granted, she'd have to get a small loan, but she was in better shape than everyone else.

Andrew bent down to her eye level, "You okay? Pancakes not cooked enough?"

Helga shook her head, "No. They're delicious. Really," she swirled her finger around the left over whipped cream and wiped it on Andrew's sunburnt cheek.

Andrew's smile widened as he picked up the whipped cream bottle. "Try me, _Helga."_

"Is that a threat?" Helga countered, lifting up the bowl of unused batter.

Andrew uncapped the sugary topping and pressed the toggle, unleashing a large spray of whipped cream onto Helga's face. She screamed and laughed, throwing the whisk and batter back at Andrew.

Arnold stumbled into the kitchen a few minutes later, shocked to see Andrew standing behind Helga with his arms tight around her waist, both covered in a mixture of food-like substances.

"Arnold!" Helga squeaked, body suddenly slipping slightly on the messy floor. Andrew caught her and held her closer.

_Were they just-? _he cut that thought immediately, responding with a simple, "Good morning."

"Do you want some pancakes?" Andrew wiped some batter off of his eyelids.

"I'm good," Arnold smiled and picked up a banana out of the fruit bowl. His eyes suddenly turned around the room, "Do I smell strawberries?"

"Yeah, I had them as a topping."

Arnold's eyebrows arched, tone serious, "Are you trying to kill Helga?"

Helga scoffed, "Relax, Football Head. I already told him I'm allergic."

"To all spectrums of human emotion?" Drake asked as he stepped into the kitchen half-naked. Helga rolled her eyes as Drake struck model poses, flexing his arms and showing off his legs.

Helga squared her shoulders before stepping into Drake's personal space, "Get over yourself, you're worse than those jerks on _Jersey Shore._" Drake only looked Helga up and down, his tongue running out over his lower lip. Helga's lip curled upward in disgust, "In your dreams, asshole."

"My mind's a very _naughty _place, Helga," he lifted his hand to trail down her whipped cream covered cheek, "and that's not some place someone as-"

Helga abruptly snatched Drake's wrist in her hands, squeezing tightly. She smacked his cheek, but not too hard. Drake flinched, mouth locking tight to keep his scream of pain in. "Touch me one more time and I will make sure you cannot have children."

Jeff and Mark had entered the scene just in time to see Drake get slapped.

Conflict Soundtrack by MTV

_That Girl_ by All Time Low

_"That girl, that girl, she's such a bitch, I tell myself I can handle it. . ."_

Drake mouthed an apology before returning to his room with his head dropped low like a sad puppy. The guys all burst into laughter, Andrew holding up his glass of milk to toast her.

Kip tugged violently on the end of his pale yellow polo shirt, trying to make the duck tape and microphone pouch more comfortable. "I don't like this mike. What happened to my ear piece?"

George rolled his eyes, "You dropped it in the toilet. Now, hurry up. We have to film before the kids arrive."

Kip filmed his standard introduction, which got to be super repetitive and obnoxious, but he was getting paid to do it, so he couldn't really complain.

The white van rolled up just in time.

There was a large mud pit built in a sunken platform on the beach. Today the kids would have to find ten flags in the mud, but there were also things like t-shirts and pillow cases so it tricked them.

After explaining the premise of the challenge, Kip gave out final instructions. "Only one person from each team can be in the pit at once. You can find up to three flags before coming out, but once you get three you _have _to leave. . . .And White Team, someone's going to have to get dirty twice today. Good luck."

The standard countdown began, Kathy for the Black Team diving head first into the mud while Sarah took her time getting in.

Helga and Drake started to scream at her, while Captain Andrew said nothing. "Guys, if she goes about this calmly, she'll be able to move easier. Relax!" That plausible reasoning shut them up.

The mud pit was five feet deep, filled up with half a foot of wiggle room between the edge.

Kathy flailed around the surface of the mud, her red hair and pale face completely covered with chunks of the milk chocolate colored dirt.

Sarah continued with her steady pace, hands digging deep within the mud. She gasped loudly when she felt something poke her ankle. After submerging her arm shoulder deep into the goop, she pulled out a piece of fabric.

Kathy watched in anguish as Sarah waded her way back to her edge, screaming triumphantly.

Drake dove in next. Except he was even more determined to find three flags to hurry this game along. Within the first ten minutes he managed to find one.

Kathy was still struggling to find her first flag.

"_You think it's easy, or that it only takes a few minutes," _Kathy confessed later that evening, "_but it doesn't. I was in that mud pit for fifty minutes before I found even one flag. And even then, it was a goddamn white one!"_

By the end of the first hour and a half, Kathy had found two black flags and White had an incredible lead with four.

It had been two hours since the game began. Arnold refused to let their team lose hope, so he tried to off words of encouragement. It didn't help much.

Mark, after sadly removing his hat, jumped into the mud. After falling waist deep, he turned back to his team. "Shit! It's getting hard!"

"_That's what she said_!" Helga shouted. That earned a round of high fives from her teammates as Andrew waded into the mud.

"Funny, Pataki! Let's see you try it!" Mark yelled back.

Andrew swam, as best he could, three feet under the mud. Holding onto a few bits of breath he had, he reemerged to the surface holding another white flag.

White Flags: 5

Black Flags: 2

"Tag me!" Helga screamed, ready to make Mark eat his southern accented words. Helga marched her way through the pudding-like substance and over to Mark.

He was pretty tall and was very muscular, it was clear he worked on a farm, but he didn't look like he would actually hurt Helga.

"Howdy," he grinned.

Helga picked up a large chunk of mud and threw it at him. It landed right in his tanned, smiling face.

Mark shook his head back and forth. "That was a mistake, little lady," he threatened. Helga laughed and picked up more mud, only to feel herself scream when Mark hoisted her above his head.

"Put me down, you jerk!" The White Team and Arnold jumped onto the sides of the mud pit, screaming at Mark to put her down.

"She's _fineeeee_," Mark drawled out before tossing Helga into a previously untouched area of mud. Helga groaned, the mud was turning into hard clay.

Getting up from the body-shaped indent she had created, Helga noticed a small bit of white fabric poking out. Grinning, Helga picked up another flag, bringing White to six.

Helga tossed it over the side, "Thanks, Mark!"

Sarah, Drake and Andrew started cheering as Helga began digging around again. Helga found one more flag before calling it quits and tagging Sarah back in.

White Flags: 7

Black Flags: 4

At the end of the third hour, Kip had to intervene with a time complaint. "It's taking you guys too long. You have fifteen more minutes."

Drake and Arnold shared a quick stare down before going into overdrive. Drake dug deep into the mud, pushing and shoving as much mud away as he possibly could.

Arnold dug up another white flag.

Hoping to be discreet, he tried to hide it back in the mud. But Drake saw him and immediately snapped.

"Six minutes!" Kip declared.

Drake jumped onto Arnold's back and pulled him downwards into the mud. "Hey! What are you doing?"

"Give me the flag!" Drake screamed.

Arnold rolled over and kicked Drake off, nailing Drake's hip bone with the point of his sneaker.

The two teams rushed to the sidelines of the mud pit, screaming for them to stop.

Kip paid no attention to their fighting, instead he began the final countdown to end the challenge. Drake finally stepped off of Arnold when the buzzer rang.

Arnold remained motionless in the mud, face twisted in disgust when he realized some mud had fallen in his mouth.

"You dick!" Helga shoved Drake's dirty shoulder, "what was that for? We could've gotten all ten flags! You need to stop your 'Roid Rage."

Drake flashed Helga a sweet smile, "Only because you asked nicely, _baby_." Helga rolled her eyes.

Kip counted the two piles of flags, impressed at the large gap between the two teams team. "White Team wins!"

Sarah and Helga hugged while Andrew and Drake shared a high five.

_White: 3_

**Black: 4**

"We'll see you back here at the beach tomorrow for your next challenge," George waved as the van rolled away, "Goodnight."

* * *

><p><em>Wednesday, June 15th, 2011<em>

_ Challenge Three: Brick By Brick_

* * *

><p>"Today, we will be working so hard your backs will break. <em>Literally<em>."

"Shit," Helga groaned.

"Alright, we've paired you up. Jeff and Sarah, Drake and Mark, Andrew and Megan, Arnold and Helga, Kathy and. . .whoever wants to go again. That will be your decision White Team."

"I'll do it!" Sarah offered. "I'll be well rested again, so it'll be fine."

The two teams lined up across the familiar ravine, two thin wooden boards stretching the twenty foot gap. The kids were harnassed in then handed one brick.

Sarah struggled to lift her off the ground. "Holy _god, _these are heavy! How many do we have to carry over?"

Kip rolled his eyes as he picked at his dirty nail, "Eighteen each. Nine from each side."

"Son of a bitch!" Sarah whined as she hoisted the fist brick up to her back.

George couldn't help but laugh. "On your mark, get set, go!"

Jeff hoisted the fifteen pound brick and carefully scurried across the board. He put one foot in front of the other and basically ran across the giant gap.

"Damn! He's like a freakin' ninja!" Andrew and Drake exchanged worried glances. "He just. . ._holy shit_!"

"I've already done this," Helga said to her teammates. "Don't worry."

Challenge Soundtrack by MTV:

_Big Casino _by Jimmy Eat World

_"Get up, turn the ignition, get up, fire up the system, play my little part with something big. . ."_

"I need to mention," Kip shouted into his megaphone, "if you drop a brick another minute is added to your time! And the team with the least total time wins."

Sarah sighed as she continued to slowly drag the brick across the wood, her body shaking violently as she made it to the halfway point. "Now that Sarah's halfway, she's narrowing the gap between White Team and Black. It's been three minutes so far. Hopefully Sarah will be able to get into the lead. It seems like Sarah's really determined to keep up."

Jeff dropped his brick, picked up a new one, and _moonwalked _backwards across the platform. The Black Team was in hysterics, cheering Jeffery on and applauding him.

"Goddamn it," Drake mumbled under his breath. "We're screwed."

Jeff: 00:10:18

Sarah: 00:12:30

Andrew: 00:15:01

Megan: 00:29:43

Mark: 00:10:13

Drake: 00:20:38

Arnold and Helga quickly strapped themselves in, prepared for this after their previous barbed wire challenge.

Helga grinned as she picked up her frist brick, "You're as good as dead, Football Head."

"Really?" Arnold asked, inching his way closer to Helga.

Helga smiled, feeling her heart rate increasing already. "Y-y-_yeah, _really."

Arnold noticed Helga's stutter. Assuming it had to do with nerves (and completely unaware that it was due to the fact he was closing in on her personal space and staring into her eyes), Arnold moved even closer. He figured he was getting to her, that he was finally intimidating. "It's on, _Pataki.__" _His face broke out into a relaxed grin, "I'll see you outside the winner's circle."

Helga was practically frozen. What the hell was happening? Did Arnold take crazy pills or something? And _oh my god _how was it possible his shampoo was even more potent now?

"_I just got this surge of confidence, standing on one side of the trench. I had done it before and lost." _Arnold grinned at the confessional camera, "_But not this time. I was so ready to win it."_

"Good luck," Arnold tipped his imaginary hat at Helga as the two prepared to crawl across.

"You're going to need it," Helga shouted back as their buzzer went off.

Both Arnold and Helga were matched throughout the challenge, each taking turns by being behind by five seconds. It wasn't until the sixth brick when Arnold slipped.

He had been so busy staring off into space - to the cameras lens it looked like he was gawking at Helga - and fumbled over his sneakers. The mud brick dropped onto the board, cracked in half, and fell into the water below.

"That's one minute!" Kip yelled, adding the time to Arnold's official clock.

Helga flashed a half-smile at the camera as Arnold ran back towards the end to get a new brick.

Arnold: 00:18:18

Helga: 00:17:10

Kathy: 00:10:12

Sarah: 00:15:06

White Team Total Time: 1:15:32 (74.92)

Black Team Total Time: 1:23:32 (81.92)

"White Team wins!"

_White: 4_

**Black: 4**

Helga laughed and hugged Andrew, cheering loudly. "Number One! White Team is totally number one this week!" Helga ran towards Arnold, screaming wildly. "What's that, Arnold?"

Arnold rolled his eyes, playing along with Helga's showboating. "Good job, Helga."

"Sorry, I can't hear you!" she shouted.

"GOOD JOB HELGA," Arnold screamed.

Helga flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder and turned away, "That's what I thought you said."

* * *

><p><em>Thursday, June 16th, 2011<em>

_Challenge Four:_ _Building Bricks_

* * *

><p>"Good morning competitors!" Kip cheered as the kids stumbled out of the van. "Today we're also working with more mud bricks. The 1,000 bricks were packed last night by our lovely camera crew and left to dry in the humidity."<p>

Kip was met with groans from everyone, and a half-smile from Arnold. _These kids_, he thought bitterly.

"You will have to work together as a team to build your way up to the flag that's hanging on a wire fifteen feet above you. You can use as many bricks as you need, but you cannot stand on each other. Okay? You have an hour."

The Black Team huddled up, Mark interjecting first, "I know what we need to do. We have to build upwards pyramid style, laying about thirty bricks on the bottom level and decreasing in increments of five. It gives us about six feet We need about 150 inches in height, but whoever we send up there can take away a few feet. "

Kathy was surprised at Mark's immense knowledge. Jeff shrugged, "He's an architect-to-be, we should listen."

"Alright, who wants to climb up?" Arnold asked.

"I will!" Megan offered.

"Do you think you could handle it? I mean, you're not _that _coordinated. Or tall," Kathy pointed out.

"Neither are you."

Kathy rolled her eyes, "That's why I didn't offer-"

"I'll do it," Mark cut in.

Arnold stepped back from the huddle, "Let's get to work."

The White Team had a different approach. They were going to build a stair case three bricks wide. After some quick calculations they figured they'd need about 100 bricks stacked correctly in order to get into reaching distance. Drake offered to climb up.

"The two teams are working hard shuffling the bricks up and down the beach," Kip narrated, "It seems that White Team has a good handle on team work, everyone doing their equal share. Black Team is taking advantage of their extra person to carry more bricks."

Helga handed her bricks off to Sarah before running back down the beach. She had been able to carry five of six bricks at a time.

Arnold gently added his eighth brick to his stack before turning away from the pile.

At that moment, Helga walked into him. "Son of a bitch!" she hissed, holding her bleeding nose. Arnold fell onto the sand also, the stack of bricks falling on and around him, cracking. After shooting a death glare at Arnold, Helga tipped her head back, eyes shut.

Arnold flashed Helga an unamused glare until he realized she was hurt. "Helga!" he scrambled to his feet, "Are you okay?"

"Back off, Hair Boy," Helga shoved him with her elbow. A trail of blood escaped her nose, trailing down her lips and onto the sand. She pinched her dorsum harder, hoping it would stop the blood loss. It wasn't working. Her nose seemed to be running even harder, gushing out of her nose, down her face and onto her t-shirt.

"Helga, you are not okay."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," she mumbled.

"What the hell is going on, Arnold?" Jeff shouted. Arnold picked Helga up off the sand, towing her back towards the group. He held four bricks under his other arm, two for Helga and two for him.

"Sarah, Drake, go get more bricks!" Andrew yelled as he pulled Helga away from Arnold. He stared accusingly at the football headed teen, "Did you hit her?"

"_No,_" Helga seethed, punching Andrew's arm. Arnold would _never _physically hurt her. "I hit his stack of bricks."

"These are for you," Arnold handed over two molded chunks of mud. He turned back to Helga, "You sure you're okay?"

"Just a little bloody nose. Now get back to the challenge so I can make fun of you for losing."

"Your hour is almost up! Ten minutes!" George called out.

Arnold quickly ran back to his team, only muttering a quick 'sorry' before helping Jeff stack the collected bricks.

At the end of the hour, Drake and Mark were positioned at the bottom of their buildings. Mark was proud of his pyramid, it seemed much more sturdy than the staircase.

"Go!"

The two teen boys clamored upwards quickly. It was an even match. Mark was too scared to move too quick and distribute his weight unevenly and Drake tried so hard to stay balanced.

Suddenly, Mark tripped on a loose brick.

Drake surged forwards at the sound of his teammates obnoxiously loud cheers.

_White: 5_

**_Black: 4_**

Drake cheered triumphantly as he removed the white flag from the clothing line before quickly scurrying back down the unstable steps.

* * *

><p><em>Friday, June 17th, 2011<em>

_ Challenge Five: Muddy Slippers_

* * *

><p>"Today, just as last week, the eliminations will occur after this challenge. So good luck!"<p>

The college students to be were submerged calf deep into a large pile of mud, then had one brick placed on their back. The premise of the challenge was to balance as many bricks as possible for as long as possible. Every five minutes a new brick would be added.

The first person to fall would be sent into the elimination challenge, which was still to be determined by a spin of the wheel.

After half an hour of waiting for the mud to dry, the challenge began.

Helga was pumped. Although her nose was still a little sore, she knew this would be easy. She had a strong back, like her dad. No one else on the White Team seemed to be as confident as Helga.

Half an hour in, with six bricks stacked, the first challenger fell.

Jeff moaned in pain as the bricks toppled off his back. The huge weight had been crushing the vertebrae along his spinal cord and left an intense burn in his kidneys. At least now he could relax in the shade.

The summer heat on the beach was brutal. He was getting more and more sunburnt every day, as most other players. And it didn't help that the sand reflected all light rays cast on it.

Challenge Soundtrack by MTV:

_Backbone _by There For Tomorrow

_"Where is your backbone? Cause you're looking very flimsy. . ."_

It was pointless to continue, really, since White Team had won. But Helga didn't want to give up.

At the end of the hour, Helga had twelve bricks on her back and was internally screaming in pain. She couldn't feel anything below her neck and her lungs were becoming crushed by the excess weight.

The White Team was cheering loudly for their teammate, encouraging her to stay strong.

Arnold watched her with a new fascination, noticing the look of complete detachment on her usually expressive features. She looked numb, her eyes never wavering from a set point in the sand and showing no pain. Her jaw was locked tight, but other than that she looked calm. Her hair hung loose around her face and blew in the humid wind, but she took no notice. Her nose wasn't swollen, just bruised slightly.

"I give up," she screamed in pain, body collapsing forwards. She wanted to cry, the searing jolts in the base of her spine was bordering on fatal. Some bricks fell off her back as she smacked onto the hardened mud. She didn't care about how badly her body ached, she just wanted to be free from the sixty pounds on her.

_White: 6_

**Black: 4**

"White was really on a roll this week. They recovered from their loss and stepped it up, now leading by two points. Black Team will have to work hard next week in order to win. But, unfortunately, Jeffery, you lost today's challenge. Please pick your competition."

Jeffery looked at his team, his glare morphing into a smile when Mark smiled at him.

"Mark."

George stood behind the camera man, snickering, "Oh, _brother _on _brother _action. Love it."

"Alright then. Jeff, spin the wheel, please."

The twins held their breath as the wheel spun, the _rat tat tat _as it passed around the plastic holding was the only sound heard on the beach.

**_Electric Rodeo_**.

"Oh, at least give them a _challenge_," Drake called out.

"Shut up, dude!" Andrew replied.

"You two know the rules, right?" Kip asked the boys as the crew began setting up the electrically charged mechanical bull. "You have to hold on with one hand. Whoever holds on longest wins. If you are on for more than twenty minutes you'll be shocked." The brothers nodded. "Jeff, you're up first."

Jeff strapped a helmet onto his head and rested his right arm behind his back. He was right handed, but found riding a bull easier with his left.

Kip hit the buzzer and the mechanical beast began rocking at a slow and steady pace. Jeff's body followed its movements fluidly. Gradually the bull began rocking at a much faster pace.

"He's just past the ten minute mark," Jeff mumbled to a camera, "I wonder if he'll make it to twenty?"

Sarah was cheering loudly, hoping to encourage Jeffery to stay strong. Ever since their first night drunk hook up the two had become close friends.

Jeff's hand slipped and he fell hard onto the sand at the eighteen minute mark. His body was tossed off the bull like a rag doll, face hitting the sand first. Mark made a motion to run forwards but Arnold pulled him back.

"I'm okay!" Jeffery said as he returned to his feet, sand pouring from his mouth.

"Mark, you're up!" Jeff tossed his brother the helmet, removing Mark's signature cowboy hat.

Mark tensed up as he walked across the beach, feeling the intense weight of the competition weighing him down. If he won this he'd kick his brother out of the game. How could he do that to his _brother? _They shared DNA. He shouldn't have accepted this. Jeff would win. Jeff always was the better rider. _Shit._

"Go Mark!" He didn't even know who was cheering for him, his ears were ringing with an intense blood rush.

The next few minutes were a blur for Mark as he jostled back and forth across the android beast. He felt as if his brain would fall out of his head from the vicious rocking. He didn't know how much time had passed until he felt something burning his hand_._

A jolt of electricity shot up his hand's nerve ending, the concentrated volts burning his muscles.

"Son of a bitch!" he hissed and let go of the rein, body jerking backwards into the sand. His hand was inflamed, an imprint of the metal rein burned into his palm.

Mark's head was buzzing, not only due to the lightheadedness and electric shock, but because of what the shock _meant. _Tears feel freely down his face as he looked across the beach.

"Looks like we have a winner," the far off voice of Kip Daniels announced. Mark slowly returned to his feet, his singed hand twitching.

After everyone hugged Jeff goodbye, Mark clung to his brother's shoulders tightly. "I'm sorry."

Jeff whispered into his brother's ear, "_Win this. Not for me, but for yourself. You can do it, Mark. You've always been better."_

Mark sat down at the confessional, lower eye lids puffed from crying earlier, "Growing up, I always felt overshadowed by Jeff. He was smarter, faster, cuter. I just can't believe I beat him in this." He released a shaking breath, removing his cowboy hat with his taped hand, "I finally won."

* * *

><p><em>Saturday, June 18th, 2011<em>

_12:19 a.m._

Kip bolted up from his Live Feed station outside the house. "Move!" he shouted, nudging a few cameramen aside as he entered the kitchen.

The night had officially descended into chaos.

"Is this the kind of drama you wanted?" George barked as he dodged a weak punch from Drake.

After finally managing to pull Drake off of Arnold, the two boys were put into separate rooms and questioned about what happened. Even though Kip and George knew exactly what happened, the Live Feed never lied, they wanted to see if the boy's stories added up.

Drake was escorted onto the patio while Arnold was forcefully shoved into the confessional. Arnold was still furious and riled up, ready to fight back against whoever touched him.

"Where's Helga?" he demanded to know.

Kip rolled his eyes, "Calm down, your friend is fine. Now, can you tell me what happened?"

Arnold nodded and wiped his dripping bloody nose with the back of his hand. "Megan and Sarah wanted to party, so we decided to go to the club in town around eight."

". . . And while we were there Sarah gets so wasted it's not even funny." Drake laughed. "She was blubbering her speech and practically stripping on the dance floor. I was a little drunk, not too bad, so I decided to put the moves on her." George had to cover his mouth to prevent an audile laugh.

"Drake just _grabs _her out of nowhere and tries to kiss her! I had been in the middle of trying to calm her down and sober her up. Helga was the first to react, she tried to pry Drake's slimy hands off of her friend. Drake shoved Helga back a little too hard."

"And that's when that football headed freak jumps me!"

"Helga managed to get me off of Drake and decided to drag Sarah home. We all piled into the taxi and sat in silence."

"Once we were back inside, Sarah kept yammering on about some bullshit, saying that she was gonna win the games and everything. Helga tried to put her to bed, but before she could do that, the bitch came up and punched me in the arm!"

"Drake was still clearly drunk because he slapped Helga _hard._" Arnold's fists coiled. "Jeff and Mark pulled Drake back while Megan examined the red mark on Helga's cheek, but I wasn't going to let him go without talking to him."

"And Arnold thought he could be a hero and he tried to talk to me. Why the fuck would I want to talk to him after he attacked me at the club? It was such _shit, _so I just shoved out of the twin's grip and beat the shit out of I'm-Holier-Than-Thou-Arnold."

Kip dismissed Arnold and went on a search for George. "Keep an eye on Arnold," Kip whispered to a camera man, who immediately followed Arnold out to the patio and to a very familiar lawn chair.

Helga rolled her eyes when Arnold sat down beside her.

"Hey."

Trying to prevent her previous jealousy about Sarah getting the best of her, Helga reciprocated the greeting, "Hello."

"I'm sorry that Drake slapped you."

Helga laughed, "I wanted to knock his lights out. He tried to kiss me in the bar earlier. Good news was that I wasn't drunk and he was an idiot."

"Are you okay?"

"Fine, I've got tough skin." She pointed to her barely noticeable bruised nose from earlier in the week, "But you should be the one who's worried about being okay." Helga smiled, fingers hesitantly reaching out to tilt Arnold's head. The outdoor bug-killing lights were still shining and provided just enough light to examine the injuries.

Helga took her time, trying to convince herself that this was okay to touch him. He wasn't moving away. "You have a little blood. . ." Her smooth thumb glided across his blood-stained cheek.

Arnold smiled at Helga's shyness. She moved very slowly, almost anxiously. He relaxed into her touch, cheek now fully resting against her palm. She continued to wipe away the blood that had already disappeared. "How bad is it?"

"Well, the good news is you're no uglier than before."

"That's a relief," Arnold laughed.

"You might be a little sore for a while. Drake managed to hit your cheek bone dead on." Helga applied a small amount of pressure onto the wound.

Arnold didn't want to flinch or move away despite the fact that it hurt. Helga's touch felt too comforting and he knew that any jerking movements would scare her off.

Romance Soundtrack by MTV 

_A Drop in the Ocean _by Ron Pope

"_But still, I can't let you be, most nights I hardly sleep, _

_don't take what you don't need from me. _

_It's just a drop in the ocean, a change in the weather, _

_I was praying that you and me might end up together. . . "_

Helga's heart was hammering hard against her ribs. Why wasn't he shoving her off, standing up and leaving? Did he _like _this? No. . .no, that was crazy. Crazier than Sarah liking him. It was. . .

Arnold slowly opened his eyes, cheeks burning red when he realized what he had been doing. He was practically _nuzzling _Helga's palm with his eyes shut. Arnold jerked himself to his feet, muttering a simple, "Goodnight, Helga." before fleeing the patio.

Thinking quickly, she barked back, "Ice your eye, Hair Boy!"

The camera man grinned as he followed Arnold back inside. He picked up his radio and spoke softly into the mike, "Looks like we found this season's _It_ Couple."


End file.
